Naruto Shippuden: Peace No More
by lord-maiku
Summary: Naruto has become Hokage. He has brought about peace. Peace that couldn't last. Now naruto must fight along side his friends again, and even ally with other villages against new threats. Naru X Tema. sequel to Naruto Shippuden: Leaf and Sand Peace.
1. It Begins!

Naruto Shippuden: Peace No More

Chapter 1: It Begins

Naruto stood on Hokage mountain looking over his village. Standing on the stone replica of his own head, he scanned over the village admiring the peace he brought. Everybody was happy within reason. Everybody felt safe without a doubt having him as their Hokage. Naruto Namikaze (having taken his dads name) was the greatest Hokage since Namikaze Minato, and maybe even better. Naruto's list of accomplishments included creating world peace, stopping Madara Uchiha, destroying the tailed beasts(with help), and bring Sasuke back to the village.

While Naruto had no wife of his own, Sakura was happily married to Sasuke, who was brought back to the village, with much anger at first. During their final battle 4 years ago, he had placed a seal on Sasuke's arms, making it so he couldn't use jutsu unless released by Naruto himself. Though Naruto and Sasuke were now best of friends in some aspects, Sasuke still had some of his hate for the leaf village. Something that helped sway his feeling toward the village was his meeting with the resurrected Itachi. Itachi explained to him his feelings on the village, now that it had no Uchiha. He insulted his brother severely over his sacrifices to give him a meaning in the village and throw it away. He then explained that if he was not weakened by his sickness and blindness at the time, Sasuke would still never have stood a chance against him. Before Itachi was forced to attack the shinobi opposed against Kabuto and Madara, Itachi proved his statement by beating Sasuke severely within a few moments. Through this fight, Sasuke learned many things through Itachi's fists. Not enough to turn his hatred of the world however. Enough to make it possible for Naruto to beat Sasuke though.

"well..."Naruto said as he closed his eyes. "I guess it's time to begin today..."

Naruto jumped down from the mountain and landed on a rooftop. He jumped down from there to the front of his favorite ramen stand. Turning quickly, he entered the stand.

"hey, it's the Hokage!" Teuchi exclaimed in excitement. Everyone in the ramen bar turned around excitedly. Ever since Naruto defeated pain, the ramen bar had been exploding in business.

"looks like you need to upgrade to a bigger place." Naruto smiled. Teuchi smiled and nodded. He had thought about doing so several years ago. Finding a place good enough for the increase in business was hard. With limited seating, he was able to up the prices. He had been making so much extra that he could retire and with projected inflation, several generations after him could never have to work. Ichiraku didn't believe in stopping while ahead. He didn't gamble so that philosophy worked most of the time.

"well you did expand the village 3 years ago so I guess I'll look around tomorrow." Teuchi decided, smiling. He had an idea of a space he could have his shop built in. Make it larger but still have limited space. He wasn't being greedy, he was playing it safe. He was always expecting another terror to happen to the village and he could help fund the repair of the village if he ever needed to help. He loved Naruto like a son and was prepared to pump the economy stupid fat if he wanted or needed to.

"U-um N-Naruto..."a voice murmured behind him. Naruto turned to see Hinata standing behind him.

"hey Hinata. What's up?" Naruto grinned.

"u-um... I... Wanted to ask you... Something..." she stammered.

"oh yeah?" he asked, a little surprised.

"well... Um... I wanted to ask you..." Hinata mumbled finding it hard to ask him the question she wanted to ask him for close to 10 years. Some people in the ramen bar decided to help her out.

"she's askin' you out!" one yelled.

"she likes you." another said.

"loves you." someone said from behind Naruto. Hinata's mouth hung wide open. Her face was pure red. She couldn't breath. Naruto turned to see Sakura standing a bit back with her arms crossed. "it's taken you years to deal with it. She told you when she defended you against pain, and you never said anything. I was so pissed for years and now that she is trying to say something on her own, I'm putting my foot into this."

"Sakura...Hinata..." Naruto said feeling like a fool. He lowered his head and whispered "is it true? Are you trying to ask me out..."

"y-y-y-yes..." Hinata mumbled. Naruto looked up in anguish. He had been so thoughtless and smashed this girls heart. He quickly grabbed her wrist and flashed to the Hokage monument. Being a master of his dad's jutsu, he decided a good place to go was his happy place with her. Hinata looked shocked and scanned the area to figure out where they were. When she realized her location, she calmed down.

"Hinata..." Naruto grumbled. He had his fists clenched and was shaking. Thinking he was mad at her she backed up slightly. "I'm so sorry... I was so stupid..."

Hinata's eyes widened in shock. He was mad. At himself. She took steps forward and began so calm him.

"Naruto. I could never be angry at you... You gave me so much to live for. You gave me someone to strive to impress. You were my strength. You still are. I know you are busy being Hokage and that it takes a lot of your energy to do. I am not mad at you for not being able to do anything about me. Don't be mad. Don't blame yourself. If I don't blame you, than you cannot blame yourself." Hinata pushed, saying everything without stuttering once. This being an important moment for them both gave her the strength. "Naruto.. I love you. I don't want you to tell me you love me unless you can or do. I can wait and I can surely be strong." Hinata smiled to Naruto.

"Hinata..." Naruto mumbled. "I need to think about this..."

"that's Ok."

And with that Naruto disappeared.

Naruto walked through the village holding his head low. Being the Hokage usually made him happy enough but this recent turn of events made him question his happiness.

"Naruto..." a voice called behind Naruto. Naruto perked his head up and turned to see Sasuke staring at him.

"oh... Hey Sasuke..." Naruto said quietly.

"what's wrong with you, dobe?" Sasuke said smiling at him now. Naruto smiled slightly. Long after the fight they had Sasuke started calling him that again, but made it clear that it was a joke now.

"I... It's Hinata..."

"huh... Finally figured it out?"

"yeah... I could really use a drink now..." Naruto sighed. Sasuke laughed slightly, and walked up to him.

"let's get you a drink then..." Sasuke said as he put his hands in his pockets and walked past Naruto.

"you want to get a drink with me?" Naruto said slightly amazed.

"sure. We never hung out before. I figure if I'm jailed here I may as well play nice." Sasuke smiled.

"jailed?" Naruto whispered slightly.

"I'm joking. God, I have a wife and 3 kids. I'm not going anywhere. Wouldn't if I could. You proved your power and what gives it to you. Now I have the same means... But no tools..." Sasuke sighed and looked at his arms that were sealed. On his forehead, hidden by his forehead protector, was a seal that healed his Sharingan in captivity. All he had was strong Taijutsu.

"Ok..." Naruto said looking away. Sasuke sighed and approached Naruto. Naruto looked at Sasuke with shock in his eyes. Sasuke smiled slightly and jabbed Naruto's forehead with his index and middle fingers like Itachi used to when Sasuke was a child.

"you're like a brother to me and I can't be mad at you. So let's get this drink." Sasuke said.

"we should get Sakura too! It would be team 7 all over again. We need to celebrate Kakashi-sensei still..."

"I agree. But not for drinks like we're getting. She has our 4th child on the way." Sasuke smiled. Naruto's face brightened.

"really? I'm so happy for you guys!"

"thank you."

Naruto and Sasuke walked into the bar and sat at a booth away from the main crowd. The waitress came over quickly after seeing the Hokage was around. The two ordered a beers and settled to talk.  
"so... I guess now that you have 4 kids already, that means I don't have to instate the clan restoration act for you, do I?" Naruto smiled.

"wait a minute! I wouldn't say that!" Sasuke jumped up, and realized a few things. The first was Sakura would probably kill the other wife. He then realized she would kill him. As he realized these things, emotions passed over his face, causing Naruto to laugh loudly.

"Sasuke... I know deep down that if you wanted it, Sakura would be Ok with it. Just don't let the Uchiha clan get out of control." Naruto stated.

"huff... They won't. Because then there could never be a Uchiha Hokage." Sasuke smirked.

"if Itachi didn't die, it would have been him. He could have beat ero-sensei..." Naruto mumbled.

"yeah..." Sasuke gloated proudly. "so anyway. Why are you so upset about Hinata?"

"when I fought Pain years ago, she confessed her love to me and almost died trying to save me. I never talked to her about it again... I basically forgot about it..."

"Ha. Once an idiot always an idiot..." Sasuke sighed. "well, decide what you feel about her and tell her."

"she wanted to ask me out."

"Ok. Think really fast, tell her, then go out with her. Why not." Sasuke said as he leaned back, sipping his beer.

"b-but!"

"Naruto, what have you got to lose? If you don't completely like her now, you may after dating her." Sasuke started. "you owe her at least one date after no recognition all these years."

"I guess you're right..."

"it's not going to be torture."

"I know... I just wouldn't know what to talk about."

"you'll think of something."

Sasuke and Naruto finished their drinks and decided to leave the bar. They walked through the street talking away.

"so when are you going to remove my seals?" Sasuke questioned.

"your sentence is up in 2 years. Prove yourself a changed man and then get off you early." Naruto answered.

"Naruto!" a girl shouted up the way from them. Naruto and Sasuke looked, and saw it was Temari. She had a pack on her back that moved slightly.

"Temari! Suna didn't give word you were coming." Naruto said surprised.

"Gaara wanted this to be a surprise. Remember that day in Suna 4 years ago, after you saved Gaara? How much fun we had?" Temari asked seductively. Naruto thought for half a second before blushing furiously. Sasuke fought the urge to laugh at his friends face.

"yeah..." Naruto said shyly.

"well..." Temari said taking off her backpack revealing it to be a baby carrier for ninja. Temari unbuckled and lifted out a 3 3/4 year old girl. "this is your daughter Naruto." 


	2. Consequences

Naruto Shippuden: Peace No More

**A/N:**

**Alright people. The results of the poll and review count have come in! And the winner is... just Temari! Now while some of you are upset about this, I will write a story involving the other choices. Please review and fave! I know I missed a typo or something in here but I couldn't find it! Please help out so I know I'm not insane!**

**~lord-maiku**

Chapter 2: Consequences

"M...my what?" Naruto said in shock. His eyes widened as he instantly knew it was true. The green eyes gave word of who the mother was, being exactly like Temari's, and the 4 whisker marks on the girls face with the bright blonde hair on her head told exactly who the father was.

"Daddy?" the daughter asked quickly excited. Naruto stood in complete shock. Sasuke looked at the whole situation, and fell to the ground laughing. "daddy!" the girl screamed as she wiggled out of Temari's grasp and ran to Naruto. Naruto, feeling like he was having an out of body experience, bent down and lifted the girl, all the while having a look of shock on his face.

"Daddy's face looks funny!" she giggled as she stretched his face trying to re-shape it. Temari giggled as she saw the awkward look in Naruto's eyes. Sasuke still laid on the ground laughing at every new turn of events. The people of the village that were around now stopped to figure out what was going on.

"Her name is Harumi." Temari stated as a grin spread across her face for a second. It switched back as the next thing she said was more serious. "I know you want to talk about this, but for now, just accept her."

"How old are you?" Naruto asked his daughter with a smile. She quickly got excited that he showed her interest.

"I'm this many!" she said holding up 3 fingers. ",and then I'll be this many!" she added as she threw another finger into the mix. She was showing her childish charm with a beaming smile that resembled Naruto's toothy grin almost exactly. She watched Naruto closely as her father thought for a moment and after a strange look crossed his face, he quickly smiled in delight. He ruffled her hair and kisses her forehead.

Sasuke stood up and looked to the two. His face was red from all the laughing he had just done. "I'm sure you two have a lot to catch up on. I would be willing to give you some time."

Temari flashed a look of concern to Naruto. After Sasuke's dark past, she had a motherly right to be worried. Naruto nodded in a sign of approval that Sasuke was Ok now. "Ok... But I know exactly what cuts she has from what right now. I know how many hairs she has on her head, and if even one is out of place, you die." Temari threatened, pulling out the angry and protective mother card quite well.

"I won't do anything! I'll take her to meet my wife and kids. Itachi, my eldest, has just turned 3. I'm sure they will get along. I can tell her a little about what her father was like when he was younger, too." Sasuke sighed at the threat. He expected it though.

"Thank you. An hour would be perfect. We will meet you at your place." Temari stated as she walked to Naruto. "daddy's friend is going to take you so you can learn about daddy when he was younger. He has a son close to your age you can play with. I want you to have fun." Temari spoke sternly to her daughter as she lovingly took her from Naruto and begrudgingly handed her to Sasuke. Sasuke quickly put her so she sat on his shoulders, much to Temari's dismay. As they stared off, after the volley of goodbyes from and to their daughter, Temari turned to Naruto."where would you like to talk?" Temari asked.

Naruto reached his hand out for her to take. She smiled slightly and took his hand. He quickly used his fathers teleportation jutsu, and the appeared on the stone statue head of Naruto himself, between the spikes in his hair in a little mediation spot the builder had made for him. Naruto and Temari sat in the small circle. Temari sat close to Naruto, and Naruto sat in his meditation pose. It was quiet between them for a few moments before Naruto spoke.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Naruto asked calmly. Temari took a second to think before speaking.

"We both know that you knowing about her would have made training difficult for you. It would also have crippled some of your dreams if you concentrated on her." Temari started. "she knew who you were. As soon as she saw you, even if I hadn't said anything, she would have known."

"But I could have been there once and a while. For her birth. Her birthdays. I could have sent messages." Naruto stated, sounding slightly angry.

"You and I both know if you had known about her you would not have become Hokage. You would have found a way to transfer to Suna and eventually regret or think about what could have been. I however, can transfer to this village under a political marriage. If you want. Or I could continue being the Suna ambassador for the leaf and see you every month, with her of course." Temari informed as she returned the slight anger. He thought about Hinata, but realized he had a daughter. While hidden from her at first, he knew now. While he could invoke the clan restoration act, it would be unfair if he didn't for Sasuke. Sakura made Naruto aware she would hurt Naruto if he ever invoked it. With this however, Naruto didn't really know either girl. He had a child now with one and was of the same village as the other. He was in one he'll of a mess.

-outside the village gate-

Three unmarked ninja stood outside the gate to Konohagakure. One in a white cloak, another in a black, and the final in a red cloak. Each had a clan symbol on the cloaks. The white had a simple snow flake on the back of their cloak. The middle wearing black had the infamous Uchiha clan symbol on the back, and the their in red had the Kanji for lava on their cloak. The three looked to the gate and the middle one used his left hand to signal the red one to attack the gate. The red ninja stepped forward and started stringing hand seals together.

"Uchi..."the one in the white started in a childish voice. "is he gunna use the dragon, or the spider?"

"The dragon..." the black cloaked ninja replied.

"Good... I hate spiders..." the white cloaked ninja replied.

"And puppets?"

"And puppets..."

The red cloaked ninja finished the hand seals and concentrated his Chakra. Out of the ground erupted a massive dragon of lava. The dragon spiraled for a moment before blasting through the gate like it were wet paper. Villagers screamed in terror as the dragon continued it's path of terror through the village. It tore through houses and buildings and it continued straight to the center of the village, stopping at the door of the Hokage mansion. There was a deep trench burnt into the ground. Smoke rose from the trench as it showed signs of heated soil and rock in it, glowing brightly.. The three ninja stood outside the village, waiting for the Hokage to come out and play. 

-on the Hokage monument, Naruto's head-

Naruto saw everything. He had been taking in a breath to say something to Temari when he saw the lava dragon burst through the gate and tear through the village.

"What the hell?" Naruto yelled seeing the villagers run in terror. He saw the dragon stop right at the door to the Hokage's mansion, and knew he was the current target.

"Harumi!" Temari screamed in terror, thinking about what could have happened. Naruto instantly worried about his daughter with the same terror. Though only just finding out about her, the love was instant. Naruto went into sage mode and instantly found Sasuke's trapped Chakra. Spotting him laying next to the huge burnt trench in the ground, he threw a special kunai, and grabbed Temari's hand. The moment the kunai got close, he teleported.

When the solidified, Naruto spun and grabbed the kunai before it would hit Sasuke. Sasuke was lying on the ground, his legs burnt badly. Holding Harumi close to him. He had protected Naruto's child.

"Harumi!"Temari yelled again as she scooped her child into her arms. Naruto yelled for his medic Anbu, who instantly appeared. As Naruto went to check on his daughter, the Anbu began healing Sasuke's burnt legs. Temari instantly went to Sasuke's side, and crouched. "thank you... Thank you so much... For saving my baby girl...!" Temari sobbed. Sasuke winced before looking at her with a slight smile.

"Not a scratch, mama bear..." Sasuke smirked as Temari hugged Harumi close. Naruto quickly vanished, only to reappear a moment later in his orange Hokage jacket.

"Boar!" Naruto started. An Anbu wearing a boar mask appeared behind him. "get Neji, lee and Kakashi. tell them to meet me at the gate as quickly as possible. Then tell Hinata and Shino to stand on alert near by to watch. We may need their analysis to win. Get Sakura there to prepare for emergency healing." Naruto said and started for the hot trench. The Anbu left to dispatch word, and left Temari, Harumi, and Sasuke watching him.

"Be careful daddy!" Harumi yelled to her father.

"Kill them for almost hurting our daughter!" Temari included.

"I'll be there to help soon! Please trust that I can help!" Sasuke roared as pain shot through his legs as they protested to his movements.

"Leave this to me..." Naruto said furiously.

_

-at the gate-

"Looks like the Hokage is coming..." the black cloaked ninja murmured.

"like in the plan?" the white cloaked one said excitedly.

"yup."

"Genkou! Geist! He looks pissed!" the red cloaked Ninja observed, slightly alarmed at the killing intent he felt.

"My turn..." the black cloaked ninja mumbled as he stepped forward.

"What are you going to do?" the red ninja asked.

"Wait and see. The plan is still possible. I didn't account for as large of a lava dragon as what we got, but I won't complain." he said.

"Be careful, Uchi!" the white ninja yelled in his childish voice.

"He's doing something!" the red ninja exclaimed. Naruto, down the trench still, had created a shadow clone. Naruto held his hand back as the Rasengan formed in his hand. After it formed, he took off in blazing speed at the ninja in the black cloak.

"Look out, Uchi!" the white ninja yelled.

The ninja in the black cloak removed his hood, revealing a ninja with long black hair that spiked in random spots. His hair was held in a pony tail with a piece of purple twine. As Naruto got closer, he noticed the striking resemblance to Sasuke.

"Amaterasu..." the ninja commanded. His eye, originally a standard 3 tome Sharingan, warped to an identical Mangekyō Sharingan to Sasuke's before getting Itachi's eyes.

Amaterasu, the black flame, erupted out of the ninja's eye, shooting right to Naruto, who ditched the Rasengan and murder path to dodge the attack. The Amaterasu stopped in mid air equal to where Naruto once was, and disappeared. The Uchiha ninja grabbed his eye as blood seeped from it.

"what the hell are you?" Naruto murmured.

"I am Genkou Uchiha... Where is Sasuke Uchiha?"

**A/N: and that is the 2****nd**** chapter. don't worry, Genkou is not some random Uchiha that survived. His story will be revealed in the next chapter. You are all welcome to guess at what or who he is. Also, my results for the Sasuke poll will be posted next chapter, so get voting, please! Also, I need people to send me their OC so I can put them in here for a later part.**

**~lord-maiku**


	3. War

Naruto Shippuden: Peace No more

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, fool!**

Chapter 3: War

"I am Genkou Uchiha... Where is Sasuke Uchiha?" Genkou demanded. Naruto stared in shock at the Mangekyō Sharingan. He had always believed Sasuke and his immediate family were the only people to have Uchiha blood in them. Now there was this Genkou Uchiha.

"What makes you think I would tell you?" Naruto yelled.

"It's this village or Sasuke. We will tear the village apart to get him..." Genkou said.

"Uchi! He has friends coming!" Geist said sounding worried.

"Geist! Sanno! Hold them off so I can have a talk with the Hokage. Meet me at the planned spot." Genkou said dashing at Naruto, and grabbed him by the collar. He sped off taking Naruto with him.

Geist and Sanno stepped to the center of the gates to block the oncoming ninja.

"Which one do you want?" Sanno asked, looking at the 3 ninja coming closer.

"I want to fight the white haired guy! There may only be one white haired ninja in the world!" Geist said angrily as he took his hood down. His hair was bright white, a shade that seemed to look like metal. While he looked childish, he had extremely pale skin. He looked like a ghost. "HEEEEY! Why do you get to fight two?" he shouted at Sanno angrily.

As Geist complained, Kakashi formed hand seals and unleashed a water dragon from a spring underground. The dragon whipped at the two criminals. Sanno quickly created a lava dragon that collided with the water dragon, destroying the water dragon. The water burst into steam, and flew at the three ninja. The three Konoha ninja quickly jumped to the side. After almost being burnt to a crisp, they made it through the broken village gates.

"You shall pay for what you did to the village!" lee shouted to the two ninja. Sanno looked to the leaf ninja with anger in his eyes.

"I'd love to see you try to make us pay..." Sanno growled.

"Hey... Sanno..." Geist started. ",is the green guy wearing a caterpillar?"

"*ick*..."Sanno sounded as he was astounded by his team mate's stupidity. ",yes...he is wearing a caterpillar..."

"Can I even punch a caterpillar? What if it is poisonous?" Geist wondered with a hint of fear in his voice.

"Well figure it out. I'll fight the white haired ninja, as he seems Ninjutsu based. You are out Taijutsu guy." Sanno said trying to sound reassuring, but came off with a lot of hate in his voice. It was obvious Sanno did not care for Geist at all.

"Ok!" Geist yelled and dashed into battle. Charging straight at lee, he drew back his fist. As it closed in on lee, he suddenly froze in place as lee threw his guard up.

"Are you wearing a caterpillar?" Geist suddenly asked, very nervous. Lee looked shocked, slightly dropping his guard to stare at the criminal ninja.

"What? Are you serious?" lee said absolutely shocked. "no! This is a special training body suit that increases my training ability and-"

Geist suddenly punched lee in the face, sending lee back quite a ways. Neji dodged just in time to avoid getting his by lee as he "flew" by. "I think you're lying!" Geist yelled with a hint of playfulness in his voice. "guess I can only punch where the caterpillar isn't!" Geist smiled as he ran to Neji.

Neji activated his Byakugan, which seemed to bother the attacking pale ninja. 'he is childish, yet very strong. Unless he is just acting that way to make us underestimate him...' Neji thought as Geist got closer. He quickly dodged a fist and hit a Chakra point on Geist. Wincing from the pain, Geist jumped back away from Neji. Quickly rolling up his sleeve, Geist saw a small bruise mark from Neji's strike.

"Little bastard... You bruised my arm..." Geist said in wonder at the attack. He then came in to attack Neji again only to get a palm to his chest. Geist flew through the air, and rolled as he landed. Then Geist hit the ground, Neji smiled smugly, thinking he had already won. The smile quickly changed as he realized Geist was rolling to avoid injury, and Geist quickly sprung up.

"Impressive... See you wear a weighted cloak..." Neji observed as he rubbed his wrist. The strike took a lot of strength to launch him. More than it should have taken to launch anyone his size. The strength needed was for someone 12x bigger.

"Yup! You found me out!" Geist smiled as he took his cloak off and dropped it to the ground. As he let go, Geist grew almost half a head taller from slouching so much. The cloak then struck the ground, and created a crater in the ground with a 40 foot diameter. "Uchi won't like that I took my cloak off, but when I tell him about you, he will be impressed!" Geist explained with traces of excitement in his voice. "I'm ready to fight now..."

"Lee! I could use your help!" Neji shouted. But lee was knocked out.

"I'll give you one last chance to tell me where Sasuke is..." Genkou threatened.

"Go screw yourself..." Naruto responded in a threatening voice. Genkou chuckled at the rage pointed at him. 'god...he sounds like Sasuke..." he grimaced as he thought.

"You may need help with me... The whole village may be needed to face us..." Genkou stated. He closed his right eye again, gathering the Chakra for Amaterasu. Naruto quickly summoned 14 shadow clones. 12 for a shield, 2 for the Rasen Shuriken jutsu.

Genkou prepared himself, and opened his right eye. The black flame, Amaterasu, launched from his eye at Naruto. Utilizing an old tactic, the two clones by Naruto threw him into the air. Genkou had to close his right eye as Amaterasu back-lashed. Looking up, he saw Naruto getting closer to him. Smiling slightly, Genkou used a substitution jutsu at the last second. After clearing the area, he saw the huge explosion of the attack. One that would have surely ended him.

"Damn... I really hoped I wouldn't have to use Susanoo..." Genkou murmured as he crouched in a tree. Naruto looked around, trying to find Genkou. When Naruto stopped moving, Genkou smiled, thinking the brash ninja had given up.

Suddenly though, Naruto looked up to the exact spot Genkou was. 'he looks different...' Genkou thought as he tried to figure out what he had done.

Naruto was in sage mode.

Naruto jumped straight at the tree Genkou was hiding in, with a Rasengan suddenly in his hand.

'I see. Before when he was using that attack, he was my ability... To see it he could make the battle longer. He wants me to die I guess...' Genkou thought as he jumped away from the branch just in time. The tree exploded and the shards of it scattered like the tree was hit with a tornado. Genkou smiled as he made hand-seals. When he landed, he bit his thumb and hit the ground, summoning a giant hawk. Genkou jumped onto the massive hawk's head, and stared down at Naruto.

"Ah... Genkou..." the hawk said, sounding disappointed. I was hoping it was Sasuke..."

"That's who we are here to find..." Genkou mumbled.

"I can summon too!" Naruto yelled, doing hand-seals. He hit the ground, and summoned Gamabunta. Gamabunta looked to he hawk, and saw Genkou.

"Were fighting Sasuke again?" Gamabunta wondered. "I thought he was in the village, restrained?"

"In a way, he still is. I have no idea who this is..."Naruto answered. He stared at Genkou as Gamabunta stared at the hawk.

"So... Is Sasuke hidden away in the village, or is he walking around in broad daylight?" Genkou asked.

"Fuck you!" Naruto retorted. Genkou smiled and Naruto angrily frowned. Bringing his hand back, he gathered a Rasen Shrunken jutsu into his hand, and threw it at Genkou. The hawk Genkou rode on darted into the air, dodging the Rasen Shrunken with no trouble. Gamabunta looked into the air. He followed the hawk with his eyes closely.

"You ready, boy?" Gamabunta said looking at the hawk.

"Massive thunder god jutsu?" Naruto asked, smiling. Gamabunta nodded, and allowed Naruto to sit on his head and gather natural Chakra again to make sure he was prepared for this attack. After a brief moment, Gamabunta jumped into the air. Seeming to fly himself, he got close to the hawk.

Naruto took one of his dad's special kunai, and threw it. The kunai shot for Genkou's face, forcing Genkou to move so it flew past him.

"Wow. A kunai to kill ME?" he whispered, feeling very insulted. They had spent all that energy getting up to him, only to throw a kunai? It was either a stupid tactic, or-

In a flash, Gamabunta and Naruto disappeared. Genkou's eyes widened as he looked quickly for them.

"My eyesight isn't that bad yet..." Genkou whispered before hearing Gamabunta roar with laughter above him. Looking up just in time to see Gamabunta's sword swipe down at him and the hawk.

The blade connected with Genkou, then the hawks head. Both went crashing to the ground with immense speed, with Gamabunta falling behind them. The hawk slammed into the ground hard, and poorer away in a blast of smoke. Naruto and Gamabunta hit the ground with a semi-smooth landing. Gamabunta smiled as Naruto chuckled.

"That was a great idea chief toad!" Naruto laughed. He dropped sage mode, no longer needing it to fight.

"He wasn't so tough." Gamabunta laughed. "Sasuke as much harder. It took an hours to fight him..."

"Yeah!" Naruto giggled.

In the distance, they heard unwanted movement.

-With the others-

Kakashi stood facing Sanno with quiet observation. Both were waiting for movement to start their fight. Sanno knew a lot about Kakashi, but Kakashi was in the dark about Sanno. The only thing he knew about him was his ability to use lava jutsu.

"So what are you three here for?" Kakashi asked, standing perfectly still. He wanted to get an idea as to why they attacked.

"Our leader on this job is Genkou Uchiha. He wants Sasuke dead. However, Genkou is also one of us... Geist, Genkou and I have been a mercenary ninja team for 3 years. It was Genkou's turn to pick the mission, and he felt it was time to get revenge." Sanno answered. Kakashi showed a range of emotion to Sanno's trained eye. The mention of Genkou's last name struck shock and confusion. Sasuke being mentioned as the target of revenge did the same. Sanno smiled slightly to see the show of confusion in a ninja. He also took this time to attack.

Sanno reached in his cloak quickly and pulled something out lightning fast. Kakashi reacted by quickly lifting his headband. When he didn't see a flux of Chakra, he noticed Sanno had pulled a cigarette out, and lit it. Kakashi internally sighed by the false start.

Sanno took a drag off his cigarette, and his hand went to work on hand seals. "fire style: smoke dragon combustion!" Sanno yelled, and blew the Chakra concentrated smoke out of his nose that formed into two dragons that went right for Kakashi. Kakashi jumped forward to dodge the dragons and go for Sanno. The dragons started to glow before they exploded in a burst of fire. Kakashi got his arms caught slightly, and got shot into the air from the burst. Sanno quickly formed hand-seals. "earth style: earth bullet!"

As chunks of earth launched into the air at Kakashi, he made a series of hand seals as fast as he could. "earth style: earth barrier!" a shield of soil came up and took most of the hits from the attack. By the time it broke, Kakashi was on the ground, and back away from Sanno. He formed hand-seals, and held his hand out. Lightning Chakra appeared in his hand as he waited for the earth barrier to break down. As soon as it crumbled, he made a dash for Sanno. "lightning cutter!"

Sanno made hand-seals fast, and raised his hand. A barrier of lava came up too fast for Kakashi to react. Kakashi had to throw his hand and jutsu into the lava, or he would have run into the wall of lava head first. He knew this wasn't going to end his way. The lightning cutter seemed to break through the barrier of lava. Yet when an intense wave of burning pain hit him, he jumped back. His hand was slightly on fire and covered in third degree burns. Kakashi winced as pain traveled up his arm at an alarming rate.

"Give up... Tell me where Sasuke is." Sanno demanded.

-With Naruto-

Naruto turned to see Genkou standing up. His body showed no sign of injury from Gamabunta's large sword. Instead, his body was surrounded in a familiar jutsu. Genkou was surrounded by the protection of Susanoo. He was breathing heavily and seemed to be sweating. He remembered when he fought Sasuke, who used Susanoo. Sasuke later said that using Susanoo made him feel like every cell in his body hurt. He could only assume that Genkou felt the same thing.

"Do you want to know... Why I will kill Sasuke?" Genkou murmured, not able to gather his breath. Blood trailed down his face from his mouth.

"Go ahead. But I'm not letting you get to him..." Naruto said as Gamabunta turned to face Genkou.

"I'll spare you a long story... I am a clone of Sasuke..." Genkou started. Naruto's eyes shot open at the unexpected info. While it surprised him, it explained why he sounded and looked a little like Sasuke. "I am a failure though. When Sasuke killed lord Orochimaru, I went into discontinuation. Kabuki left to try and become something he wasn't, and Sasuke knew nothing of me. Without my needed medications in the tube... I was not finished. But I have a massive amount of Chakra. Though my body is weak, and my lungs are failing. I vow to kill Sasuke. I vow to do so before my body fails me..."

Genkou dropped Susanoo, and started to walk toward Naruto. Naruto jumped off of Gamabunta's head, and stared at Genkou.

"I can handle this, chief toad..." Naruto stated as he started to walk to Genkou.

"You sure, boy?" Gamabunta asked.

"Go!" Naruto yelled, turning and looking at Gamabunta. Gamabunta saw a mixture of emotion in Naruto's eyes. Hatred, pain, confusion, and one Gamabunta was surprised to see. Sorrow. Gamabunta vanished in a cloud of smoke, knowing Naruto had to do this on his own.

"Orochimaru brain-washed you..." Naruto started, as he continued to walk toward Genkou. "you think that you worshiped Orochimaru... But did you ever meet him?"

"Of course! I'd see him through my tank. I was taken out to receive memories even!" Genkou yelled. "don't think you can change my mind!"

"He made you think all this. You don't want to kill Sasuke... You have no idea what you're talking about..." Naruto said as he got closer. He was about 27 meters away from Genkou at this point, and could tell Genkou was fighting his sickness and what Naruto said.

"Fuck you..." Genkou whispered. He did hand-seals quickly, and brought up his right hand, with only his index finger sticking up. "fire style: fire jet jutsu!"

From his mouth at his fingers distance erupted a massive jet of fire that was blue rather than the usual red. The flame hit Naruto just as he threw up an instinctual Rasengan in the way. Both jutsu exploded due to the massive amount of Chakra needed for both. While Naruto flew off due to the explosion, Genkou was pushed back due to his distance from the actual collision of power. As he stopped sliding, he felt a pain in his gut, and threw up blood.

"I need to finish this... Or I'm going... To die here..." Genkou murmured as he started to run in the direction that Naruto flew, fighting the pain his body gave him as it protested his running.

-By the Gate-

Naruto flew in thru the trees, and landed feet away from Kakashi. Naruto's arms were bare of all clothing, and burnt badly. Naruto saw Kakashi's burnt hand and smiled.

"And we call ourselves the fire country..." Naruto smirked. He looked to his other Side to see lee out cold and Neji standing in his fighting position, facing Geist. "this sucks..."

"NARUTO!" someone screamed from the village gate. Leaf ninja and the enemy both looked to see Sasuke. He was wearing a one piece outfit like the one he wore during the Chuunin exam a long time ago. This one had longer leggings and no sleeves. His seal marks were very visible, rather than usually hidden by wraps.

"Sasuke..."Kakashi murmured.

"Remove my seals!" Sasuke yelled. "it's the only way I can help!"

"Excuse me!" Geist yelled. Sasuke looked to him with a very annoyed look on his face.

"What the hell do you want?" Sasuke demanded.

"Why do you look like Uchi?" Geist asked in a childish voice. Sasuke looked at Geist with an awkward look on his face. Sanno smacked his forehead.

"You're having trouble with this, Neji?" Sasuke smiled.

"Shut the hell up. You try fighting him." Neji replied, never taking his eyes off of Geist.

"Sasuke! Now!" Naruto yelled as he got up, and ran for Sasuke. Sasuke took off at Naruto, internally happy about getting his seals off, but worried about who he would have to fight.

"Stop him, Geist!" Sanno yelled.

"But he looks like Uchi!" he started as he stood still. "I can't fight him."

"God dammit!" Sanno screamed as he started to do hand-seals. Kakashi used his speed to crash into Sanno to stop his hand-seals, sending them both to the ground. "Geist!"

"Fine! I'll attack the Hokage!" Geist yelled and almost disappeared from his utterly amazing speed. Neji guessed his path, knowing that if he was moving fast enough, he couldn't dodge. He caught the slightest bot of movement, and kicked as Geist went past him, hitting him in the stomach.

Naruto and Sasuke got to each other, and Naruto quickly began to do hand-seals. He bit each finger on his hands, and touched both arms at the forearm, and the seals poofed away. Sasuke quickly removed his forehead protector, and Naruto pressed both bleeding thumbs to the seal, making it disappear also. Sasuke got an evil look on his face, and stared at Naruto with hate in his eyes. Naruto responded to this by looking absolutely terrified. He started to back up, feeling weak from all the Chakra it took to remove the seal.

Sasuke instantly took off at Naruto with killing intent in his eyes. Naruto stood, frozen in terror. Sasuke pulled his hand back, and pushed it forward to deliver a killing blow to Naruto. Kakashi and Neji both looked on in horror. Sanno was speechless, not knowing why he would betray his leader, unless the stories about Sasuke's unrivaled hate were true.

Sasuke's hand came forward with lightning speed, and Naruto closed his eyes, waiting for the killing strike. He felt something poke his forehead, and slowly opened his eyes to see Sasuke standing there poking his forehead like Itachi all over again. He had a huge smile on his face that looked like Naruto's signature smile.

"Got ya." Sasuke beamed. "idiot"

Sasuke spun around quickly and shot a chicory spear at Geist, who dodged it with ease by rolling away. Sasuke smiled, seeing he would have to go all out. That his fellow ninja were not as weak as he feared. That he was going to get to test how rusty his skills were. Sasuke quickly ran to Geist, and activated his Sharingan. Geist, who had never fought an Uchiha and knew nothing about them, ran into battle. Sasuke instantly activated the hypnosis effect of his Sharingan, and made him use a jutsu. Seeing wind Chakra, he quickly used a fire jutsu. He formed hand-seals and fired a great fireball jutsu at Geist, who was convinced his jutsu would win. It however, ended badly as his defensive wind jutsu he suddenly used was overpowered, absorbed into the fire, and exploded in his face. Geist launched backwards, falling into unconsciousness.

Sanno looked at Sasuke angrily. He knew they couldn't beat Sasuke. Wherever Genkou was, Sanno knew he was weakened beyond the point of beating Sasuke. Even with the Mangekyō Sharingan.

"Amaterasu!"a voice yelled from the trees. A large blast of black fire shot right for Sasuke, before it was absorbed by Sasuke's Sharingan. Genkou jumped from the trees to fight Sasuke. As the two faced each other, Sasuke looked shocked to see someone who could have been a twin. Sasuke cringed as he saw a special curse mark on Genkou's hand that could have only been one of Orochimaru's.

"Genkou. We must leave. There is no way you can beat him. He has all his Chakra and I can tell you need medical attention." Sanno insisted, still looking at Sasuke, who glared at him, then back to Genkou.

"Fuck you!" Genkou yelled.

"Then forgive me..." Sanno said as he quickly ran to Genkou, whose Sharingan had lost most of it's appearance, showing it's blindness and Genkou's weakness, and kicked him in the stomach. Genkou bent over, threw up blood, and collapsed. As he fell, Sanno caught him.

Sanno ran to Geist, grabbing him up, and looked to them. "we will return..."

"Sasuke! Stop them!" Naruto yelled. Sasuke stood there, watching as Sanno got a scroll out to reverse summon the two unconscious ninja, and run by himself. Sasuke allowed him to reverse summon the two, and put the scroll away. As Sanno was about to leave, Sasuke mouthed something to Sanno. Sanno's eyes grew wide with shock, and he slowly backed up as Sasuke's eyes turned to their Mangekyō form, and launched black fire at him. As Sanno disappeared quickly, with hunter ninja speed, Sasuke turned to the others.

"You let them get away!" Naruto yelled. He struggled to stand, feeling weaker every second.

"I want to fight that Genkou guy. I want to see how strong Orochimaru's clone of me is..." Sasuke said. He helped Naruto up as Neji did the same for lee, who was still out so he had to carry, and they started for the village. Kakashi was just burnt and in pain, but could still walk. "for now, You need medical attention..."

-in the forest-

Sanno ran, thinking deeply in his mind to what Sasuke had whispered to him. Though he didn't think he could believe it, he knew he had to check. The two unconscious ninja he sent back to their base would be fine while he checked to see if Sasuke had told the truth.

'He needs new eyes. Madara's lab is...' he said as he started to remember what Sasuke had mouthed. It could have been a trap, but for Genkou's sake, he hoped it wasn't. 

**A/N: That's the next chapter! Sorry it took a day longer. I had no patience for writing, as I am quitting smoking and get frustrated very easily. I promise the next chapter to be on time or earlier if I have any say in my mood, which I'm getting under control. Read and review!**

**~lord-maiku!**


	4. Life

Naruto Shippuden: Peace No More

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or anything involved.**

**A/N: Ok. I got a few negative reviews about the last chapter, and I understand what they mean. I'm not good with fighting stuff in stories. I'm trying to think of ways to make the next one better, but you don't have to worry. I do not plan on putting up any fighting only chapters for a while. I want this story to run for at least 20 chapters if you all will still read it, but I don't blame you for not.**

Chapter 4: life

Naruto woke up in his room in the Hokage mansion. Having only suffered Chakra exhaustion and minor burns, Naruto could recover at his own place rather than in a stuffy hospital room. Looking to the Side, he spotted something moving around under the covers. As it moved around, Naruto started to remember all the infestations his old apartment had, and wondered if the creatures there had followed after all this time. Getting a grim look on his face, he reached for the blanket slowly. Through the years in his apartment, he had found a wild assortment of animals that creeped in form some unknown hole in the wall or, even less likely, summoned to torment him form the civilization of roaches that resided in his apartment the whole time he lived there.

Naruto gripped the blanket slowly, not wanting to startle whatever it was into a vicious frenzy, and yanked the blanket off the bed as he jumped out of the bed as fast as he could.

Under the blanket was little Harumi, Naruto's 3 year old daughter. She had been crawling around, and was now looking around for the blanket when she noticed her dad standing with it with a look of relief.

"Whatsa matter, daddy?" Harumi asked as she crawled closer to the edge of the bed.

"I thought you were going to be an angry animal..." Naruto answered, only confusing his daughter more.

"B-but... I'm not an angry animal!" Harumi protested as she started to whimper and her eyes filled with tears. Naruto jumped, getting nervous over what he should do.

"N-no! Don't cry! I was kidding!" Naruto yelled, as he went to pick her up. The moment he touched her to pick her up, Temari broke the door to the room down. She only saw her daughter sitting on the bed, crying her eyes out.

"What's going on here?" Temari demanded. The stern voice was enough to cause Naruto to stutter as he answered.

"I-I-I t-tried to-" he got out before his daughter's voice cut him off.

"Daddy said I was an angry animal and yelled at me!" Harumi yelled, crying her eyes out. Naruto froze up hearing the misunderstanding, and looked to Temari hoping she wouldn't believe it. Instead she started to pull the fan off her back.

"Temari! Wait! I didn't! I can explain!" Naruto yelled in self defense. It was too late though. Temari swung her fan and the wind hit Naruto with enough force to launch him through the wall and out of the mansion. "Noooooooooo!" he yelled as he soared through the sky. Several people in the streets saw their Hokage flying, and didn't know how to react to the nonsense. Sasuke was training his body when he saw Naruto flying above him. Not knowing what had happened, he decided catching him would be for the best.

Sasuke's Mangekyō Sharingan activated, and Susanoo appeared around him. A purple hand rose up as quickly as it appeared, and snagged Naruto from his flight path. Though it was a misuse of a battle jutsu, Sasuke had been blocked for so long from using any jutsu he used them for anything.

"Sasuke...!"Naruto whispered in surprise. Sasuke was almost the last person he could think of that would save him, yet here he was saving the day.

"Temari troubles?" Sasuke smirked. Susanoo disappeared, and Naruto fell to the ground on his feet. Naruto sighed as he walked toward Sasuke.

"You know it..." Naruto mumbled. Sasuke gave a slight smile, and patted him on the shoulder.

"Get used to it. Women always have something to be angry about. Oh, and have you talked to Hinata yet about Harumi?" Sasuke asked with his usual board expression on. "and Temari?"

"Crap..." Naruto said as he dropped his head.

Sasuke smirked and became slightly out of usual characters he looked up with wonder in his eyes in a thoughtful way, and put a finger to his chin. "I guess you give the women around you a reason to be mad..."

Naruto gave a small smile as he looked at Sasuke awkwardly. "Thanks a lot..." he murmured. He thought about all he had to do today. Tell Hinata about his daughter was at the top of the list. Before he went to sleep the other night, he got to think about Hinata and Temari. The situation wouldn't allow Naruto to instate the clan restoration act for himself without it being awkward at this point. While he didn't mind the idea of being with Temari and his daughter, he didn't know Temari very well at the time, or now. Though he just had to admit, she acted a lot like Tsunade when it came to Harumi. Except Harumi in Tsunade's case was sake.

"I'm not going to let you use me as an excuse. Get going." Sasuke ordered. When Naruto looked at Sasuke with a slightly insulted look on his face, Sasuke smiled.

"Yes sir..." Naruto whispered in defeat and humor. A grin fought to appear on his face. The two of them started to laugh a little.

"Oh, And here," Sasuke started as he held out his arms. "you wanted to seal my Chakra again, right?"

Naruto stared at Sasuke in shock for a second. He had completely forgotten about removing the seals, and now had to decide what to do. Sasuke had been a big help against the attackers. While 4 years ago, Naruto could have taken the attackers on at the same time due to the difference in their power. Now though, he was not the same man he was then.

"No..." Naruto answered. Sasuke looked at him, shocked. "after that fight... I realize we need you. You can be as strong as you used to be... I can't..."

The reason he said this was simple. He no longer had the fox sealed in him. After the fight with Sasuke years ago, Naruto destroyed the tailed beasts. At the root of it, they represented human hatred. Getting rid of them prevented any fighting over them again. It also ended the reason any village would need a jutsu of great strength as no village would need to protect from one of them. Naruto had survived the extraction of the nine-tails from the help of the united shinobi alliance transferring Chakra to his almost lifeless body. When Madara revived the ten-tailed monster, Naruto had joined the 5 Kages to fight the ten-tailed Jinchuuriki. During the fight, he realized that he held power, but the fox had helped him a lot. During the fight with Genkou, he felt the minor pain of that realization. While he held an upper hand against the man, he didn't fight as he once did.

"You..." Sasuke muttered as he pulled his hand back. "piss me off!"

Sasuke's fist flew in at full speed as he punched Naruto. Naruto saw the punch coming at the last second and took the blow without flinching. Sasuke's face was lined with fury. Naruto looked at Sasuke with slight confusion written on his face. Not anger or real surprise.

"You give me whatever excuse you want. You could be training your sage mode. You could be training your thunder god jutsu. Instead, you bitch? Harumi deserves a better father than someone who makes excuses. I remember how you used to train non-stop so you could get where you are now." Sasuke yelled. If they hadn't been in the small group of trees away from people at the back of the villages, than they would have a large audience. When Sasuke mentioned Harumi, he blanked out in rage. He didn't hear what he said at that point, but looked at Sasuke with rage.

"Don't talk about Harumi!" Naruto growled in anger. He pulled his hand back, and punched Sasuke in the stomach. Sasuke lifted off his feet from the force, and fell to his knees as he gasped for breath. Sasuke looked up at Naruto with one eye closed and the other squinted in pain.

"Rather than hit me..." Sasuke coughed and struggled to breath. "train with me... If those ninja come back, you need to be a Hokage rather than a pansy."

"I can train on my own damn time..." Naruto murmured. This was obviously a touchy subject now. He turned and started to walk away from Sasuke.

"The offer stands..." Sasuke shouted the best he could with the wind knocked out of him. Naruto stopped for a second, looked back to Sasuke, and started off again. Sasuke could have almost swore he nodded, but he would have to wait to see.

-

Back in the village

-

Naruto was walking back to the Hokage mansion when he ran into Hinata. She was happily looking at the flower shop when he almost bumped into her without her realizing he was there. Naruto gulped and sighed. He had to tell her. His only hope was she would forgive him and not be mad for long. She obviously had every right to be angry.

"Hinata..." Naruto started as he tapped her on her shoulder. She screamed and jumped, being completely absorbed in what she had been doing and not expected to be startled.

"Naruto! You scared me!" Hinata sighed in her quiet voice. She smiled slightly as she held her hands awkwardly behind her back. Most of the village had been working on fixing the gate and village itself after the assault. "I'm on break from the repairs. Did you need something?"

"Yeah..." Naruto said as he averted his eyes. Hinata looked at him for a second before she started to understand what this conversation was about. "I... This is going to sound wired... Cannot go out with you without hurting... My daughter..." Naruto started. Hinata looked appalled for a moment before speaking with sadness and anger in her voice.

"I would understand if you said you didn't want to go out with me. You don't have to lie..." Hinata said more angry than ever. Especially with Naruto. There was no stuttering now.

"I'm not lying!" Naruto said in self defense. "I promise!"

"You want me to believe you have a daughter, and didn't know about her since we talked two days ago?" Hinata asked, obviously mad at what she thought was a lie.

"Hinata, I-" Naruto started but was cut off by his name being yelled behind him. He turned to see Temari walking with Harumi at her side, hands clasped tight because Temari was nervous of another attack. She was going to keep a tight grip on her daughter for a long time now.

"There you are!" Temari sighed. She walked over to him and begrudgingly let go of Harumi's hand so she could hug her father. "Harumi thought you would be around here. She was sure you would be close. I thought you would have flown off and been out cold. Harumi told me she was over reacting, so I felt bad eventually and wanted to find you."

As Temari talked with Naruto, Harumi was rubbing Naruto's leg with her cheek, happy to find her dad, when she looked to see Hinata staring at her. When Harumi and Temari walked up first, Hinata felt the timing was too prefect for it not to be faked. Yet when she got a good look at Harumi she knew Naruto was telling the truth. Surprise marked her face as her mouth hung open slightly. The whisker marks were too real. Naruto still had his, even without the fox. Harumi just looked like Naruto and Temari combined. While she was crushed she couldn't be the one to mother Naruto's children, she found Harumi absolutely cute. The look on her face that Harumi saw now was one of wonder of sorts. Hinata looked like she was going to scream and cry as she would hug Harumi and say how cute she was a hundred times. As Harumi attempted to hide behind Naruto's leg, Hinata seemed to internally scream in adoration.

"I forgive you. I can't blame you for over reaction when Harumi is involved..." Naruto said and started to think about how he had punched Sasuke. He now realized he punched Sasuke for no reason. Sasuke hadn't threatened Harumi or insulted her. More like insulted Naruto using Harumi as an example, but hardly worth punching him for.

"Thank you..." Temari said as she hugged Naruto. She looked down to Harumi to see her hiding behind Naruto's leg. She looked to Hinata to see the look written on her face, forcing Temari to crack a smile. She got that Hinata liked Naruto, and while she hoped it wouldn't effect Harumi if Naruto chose Hinata over herself, she watched her closely for a second. Hinata snapped out of her tunnel vision to see Naruto and Temari staring at her. She blushed quickly and coughed as she tried to think of something to say.

"W-w-well, Naruto..." Hinata started. " I b-believe y-you and f-f-forgive you..."

Hinata made a quick exit. She was rather embarrassed and felt that leaving was the best idea. As she retreated, she kept thinking about Naruto having a child. For years she had hoped she would be the mother, but the child was adorable none the less.

"Who was that, daddy?" Harumi asked. Naruto was about to say something when Temari cut in to get some nervousness she had into the open.

"That was daddy's girlfriend..." Temari said sounding more upset than she wanted. Harumi had caught onto it but didn't know how to react. Temari had looked away from both of them.

"She's not my girlfriend." Naruto said matter-of-factly. He didn't sound annoyed at all. He was just saying. "she's just a friend."

Temari looked at him happy and embarrassed that she made such a big deal about this. Naruto smiled with understanding, the usual idiot he happened to be was gone now.

"Can we talk then?" Temari asked. Naruto nodded and pointed down to Harumi. "um... That old play date with Sasuke's kids?"

"Good idea." Naruto said as he picked up Harumi. The two walked side by side to drop Harumi off at Sasuke's house.

-

At Sasuke's home

-

Sakura was home now, rather than aiding with the repair of the town, due to the fact no one was around to watch the kids. Usually, Sasuke was in the large backyard they had. Now that he could do Ninjutsu again, he wanted more space for practice. At the time when Naruto and Temari walked up to the clan home, Sakura was sitting outside. Her earliest child, hardly 6 months old, was in her lap asleep. Sakura looked down the dirt road to see Naruto and Temari walking toward the clan home. She then noticed the girl in Naruto's arms. She knew he had a child the hour Sasuke found out. When Sasuke stopped in to change to his battle gear. He quickly informed her of the Merc-nin that attacked, and spoke slightly that Temari birthed Naruto a daughter. At the time, Sakura thought it was a joke to stop her from trying to stop him from leaving. She knew by just looking at the girl that it was Naruto's child, and not part of some strange joke. While Naruto did calm down for a while in the heat of everything, he eventually started pranking people again. This was a strange truth for Sakura to believe. Why Temari, though?

"So is that your daughter?" Sakura asked as she carried her own child toward them. "why didn't you tell me you had a child, say, when she was born?"

"I didn't tell him about her..." Temari sounded. Sakura looked at her with shock on her face. Temari blushed with embarrassment as she fumbled with her explanation. "I wanted him to achieve his dreams before he knew. We both know he wouldn't have become Hokage or stayed in the village. He would have came to the sand village under political marriage so Harumi could be with her uncles."

The excuse was sound to Sakura. It made sense to her. The victim in the excuse was Harumi, but Sakura wouldn't say that. Harumi went so long without knowing about her father other than the probable stories from her mother and uncles. Without her father, she was probably estranged by other kids. Sakura didn't know for sure. It was all just a guess.

"I understand why you did it. I don't know what would have happened if he knew about her, but we don't have to find out, as everything seems to have worked perfectly." Sakura stated as she held her child closer, and glanced back to the house to make sure Itachi hadn't set it on fire. He was still too young for training, but Sasuke still had him learn to sneak around and do things like hide thing and destroy things. His father just wanted him to know how to sneak so it was natural to him later on. Sasuke talked about really starting his training when he turned 4.

"Thank you" Temari said and bowed. She nudged Naruto to try and get him to ask his long time friend to watch their kid. Naruto jumped a bit, looked at Temari, and remembered why they came.

"Um... Would you be willing to watch Harumi for an hour?" Naruto quickly asked. Sakura looked at Naruto with a look that told him she wanted to know why. "Temari and I need to talk..."

"Ah. Talk... Sure..." Sakura said and rolled her eyes.

"No! I'm serious!" Naruto shouted. He was blushing slightly at the thought of getting to sleep with Temari again. She had been very attractive at the time, but now she was somehow better looking. Her baby weight was long gone, though he never saw any of it, and she looked like she did then. She looked slightly tanner because she used to take Harumi, who wore sun protection from head to toe, around the village and telling her daughter what everything was. Temari seemed to have been doing something different than all that time ago, or maybe he was finally noticing things, but her body looked firm. She looked thin and strong. Her ninja life had continued somehow, and she looked great because of it.

"Ok. Fine. Say whatever you want. I'll watch her till you come to get her." Sakura smiled. Temari sat Harumi down on the ground, and Harumi stood staring at her mom and dad. She looked at the two with slight fear in her eyes.

"This is Sasuke's wife. You remember Sasuke. He protected you the other day. She will do the same." Temari said as she gave Harumi a reassuring smile. Harumi forced a smile and moved slowly to Sakura. "I'll be back to get you in an hour. Maybe Sasuke will be back before then. Have fun."

"Bye Mommy!" Harumi yelled as she demanded a hug and kiss. She turned and looked at Naruto with the same look. "Bye Daddy!"

After hugging and kissing her, they slowly made their way back to the Hokage mansion. "she seems to like Sasuke." Naruto started. "does she have god-parents?"

"No. And you want them to be Sasuke and Sakura?" Temari asked. Naruto wasn't sure about the tone in her voice.

"Um... Yeah..." Naruto murmured. Temari sighed as she grabbed his hand gently.

"If Harumi didn't like Sasuke like an uncle I'd say no. I'll allow this..." Temari whispered. Naruto looked at her blushing slightly. This whole new life would take some getting used to.

-

On the Hokage tower

-

Naruto and Temari sat on the roof on the Hokage's mansion looking at each other. Naruto had to start overseeing the repair to the village now that he had a day to recover, but he wanted to talk with her first.

"So...what am I to you?" Temari asked right to the point. Naruto's eyes widened as he was shocked this came up instantly. He had been hoping for a few minutes of simple questions to think of an answer to that question.

"That one right away, huh..." Naruto sighed. His palms started sweating as he tried to think quickly. He started to think of Harumi. The wrong thing to think of when her mother was supposed to be the topic. Minutes went on as he struggled to find the right words.

"I just want the truth." Temari stated with little emotion behind her voice.

"The truth?" Naruto said curiously. He than realized he was looking for the right words for her, rather than his own words for himself. He breathed deeply before he spoke. "truth is... I don't think I love you..."

"Oh..." Temari whispered, sounding hurt by the statement. She looked away from Naruto with an embarrassed expression.

"BUT! I have already given Harumi years without me, and I think its only right to try." Naruto said with a slight smile.

"Harumi will be happy..." Temari whispered, trying to hint with her voice that she was happy. Naruto looked at her with confusion on his face.

"But... What about you?" Naruto asked, showing his idiocy again. Temari looked angry suddenly and blushed slightly.

"You're so clueless!" she yelled.

As Naruto started to try and figure out what he had done, a smile spread across Temari's face. Naruto had agreed to try and be with her, rather than just seeing Harumi every now and then. While time had gone on, she still loved him for all he had done for Gaara. She loved him for giving her Harumi. She loved him for reasons she still was oblivious to. 

* * *

**A/N: So here is the new chapter. Sorry it is two days late, but I wanted it to be good. I'm much better with the funny/emotional stuff, and will be sticking to it for a while. I want to do a flashback chapter to the final fight with Sasuke, or maybe even have that be my next big story. I don't know... read and review!**

**~lord-maiku!**


	5. Trials

Naruto Shippuden: Peace No More

**A/N: first off, with this chapter, I know one part is going to bother people right from the start. Temari knew about the hidden door because her brother is the Kage of the sand village. That, and the personal guard, who will be revealed instantly almost, told her where this one was. Besides that, read and review.**

Chapter 5: Trials

When Naruto woke up the next morning, it wasn't because of the usual sun in his eyes or someone beating down his door because it was "too late for a Hokage to be sleeping." it was because there was a pair of arms around his neck. At first it took Naruto a second to realize he wasn't imagining the arms, than it took another second to realize that he had gone to sleep alone last night.

Slowly gathering the courage to look and maybe see one of the ninja that usually woke him had taken a new route to wake him in the morning, he turned. When he saw the face, he sighed at first when he saw it was a girl. He turned in bed again, but stopped mid-turn with widened eyes. Turning again quickly, he stared at the person sleeping with him. It was, of course, Temari.

At some point last night Temari had crept into his room... Or she was let in by the guard outside because in the 4 days since she arrived, everyone in the village had found out about Harumi. It's not like Naruto wanted to hide her from the world, but it was a delicate subject that could reflect bad images on him alone.

Naruto nervously scooted away from Temari and got up in the same nervous fashion. He didn't know what she would be like if woken up abruptly, but he didn't care to find out. As he threw his clothing on for the day, he turned and looked at Temari for a moment before something clicked in his mind. He quickly looked around and could not find what was missing. Harumi wasn't around.

"Temari!" Naruto yelled at the top of his lungs, making his daughter's mother wake from her sleep. She sat up with her eyes squinting as they adjusted to the light, and she slowly turned her head to look at Naruto. Though squinted from sleep, he could see the rage. "where is Harumi?"

Temari sighed and stood up. She was wearing a light blue nightgown that only went down mid-thigh. The top of it complimented her chest nicely, even though one strap of it hung down and dared to show more boob than Temari wanted. She fixed it when she saw Naruto's face go red as he looked at her. At first she thought it was her nightgown, but the slip made more sense.

"Every Kage mansion has some other room connected. Watch." Temari said as she walked to a wall and pumped Chakra into her palm. The once invisible seal on the door appeared and the door poofed away in a cloud of smoke. Behind the door was a room that was half the size of the Hokage's room, and it held a small bed in the center. On the table was a small lamp for a night light. Naruto looked into the room and watched as Harumi stirred in her sleep, starting the long waking process Temari knew well.

"How did you get in here last night? Did Neji let you in?" Naruto asked, not sounding mad at all, just curious.

"Yeah. For your personal guard, he isn't good at checking to see if it was really me. He didn't even use the Byakugan." Temari smiled as she stepped in to the room and sat on the small bed by Harumi. "he told me it was a good thing I was going to sleep in your room. People are apparently talking about me behind my back. You know how it is. If a man sleeps around, it's Ok. If a woman does it, she is a whore."

"Oh..." Naruto mumbled. He had never thought of that. Not that he knew about the double standard, but he was learning about it now. He was surprised Temari cared what others thought about her. "I'm surprised you care."

"I don't. To be honest, I'm scared of what they would call Harumi, or what she will think when they insult me..." Temari sighed. She rubbed Harumi's cheek with her finger as she waited for Naruto to say something.

"You've changed so much..." Naruto mumbled as he walked to her side. At first, he had thought about telling her that she was moving way too fast for him. Now he was thinking about just baring it for her sake. He wanted this to work out and it gave him a reason to have her stay with him, even though he hadn't pictured it a day or two ago to happen this fast.

"What do you mean?" Temari questioned.

"I mean when I first met you back in the Chuunin exams you were like... Anger in human form. Gaara was hate and death mind you, but you just seemed angry... Then when we met again when we had to save Gaara, You were more calm. You still had anger in you, but you were a lot happier. And now you only show anger when Harumi is in any form of trouble. Its strange to compare you to your younger self. You are a lot happier now." Naruto explained. Temari smiled as she picked up her toddler in her arms.

"I have been so scared since I've came here... I hoped to god you would accept me... That you wouldn't call me a stalker or anything. I was scared that I would come here after so long and it would be too late..." Temari said as she started to cry. " I kept putting it off because I thought you would hate me... I could have come the moment you became Hokage, but I was so scared..."

Temari laid Harumi down quickly and left the room so she wouldn't wake her daughter. Naruto looked quick to make sure Harumi didn't wake up, and left the room.

Temari had laid down on the Hokage's bed, grabbed a pillow, and cried. Naruto sat down on the bed awkwardly beside her. He didn't know what to say. He didn't know what to do. As Hokage, he could do a lot of things. Naruto decided immediately that he would rather fight an entire hidden village by himself rather than these sorts of things.

"T-Temari..." Naruto said as he put his hand on her shoulder. "I would never think that of you. You are always serious and strong willed. You would never be a stalker or crazy." Naruto reassured, in a moment of intelligence. Whenever a friend or loved one was upset, he knew what to say or do. "and if I would have already been with someone else... Well... There's always the CRA (A/N:clan restoration act, for those few of you that don't know) to think about in that scenario. You're my daughters mother, and I couldn't have had Harumi without you."

Temari lifted her face from the pillow to look at Naruto with bloodshot eyes. She wore little eyeshadow, so there was barely any of the stereotypical black smear around her eyes. Naruto put a hand under her chin and moved in for a kiss.

As he moved in for the kiss Temari's eyes widened in shock. Naruto was going to give her the first real kiss since she got there. While she hadn't shown him much love since getting there, she craved every bit. His love and attention, and for Temari herself to give the love and affection. While Naruto was right about this being out of character for her, she could easily justify it with a response. He was her family's savior, and also her daughters father. Though it had been from a night of passion she still regarded Harumi as the best thing that ever happened to her.

Naruto was nervous as he moved in for the kiss not knowing how she would react. He knew she wanted the kiss, but he didn't know if she would think he was taking advantage of her. All he knew was at this point in time the kiss felt like it was needed.

As their lips met more tears came to Temari's eyes. The kiss was what she wanted for such a long time. It was as warm as she remembered it from that time long ago. Naruto was shocked by the love he could feel in her trembling lips. While at first he thought something this sappy belonged in one of ero-sannin's novels, he relaxed into it. However, their happiness could not last.

A knock came to the door that caused both Temari and Naruto to jump away from each other in fright. While they had nothing to hide the moment brought back memories of the night in the sand village four years ago.

"Yes?" Naruto asked quickly.

"You have a letter from the sand village, Hokage." Neji replied on the other side of the door. "a bird came with it not five minutes ago."

Naruto looked at Temari with a look of sadness. It was from Gaara for sure and had to be read instantly. He wished he could have kept kissing her though...

"Meet me in my office in five minutes." Naruto called. Footsteps could be heard as Neji walked away without saying anything. Naruto looked back to Temari with an apologetic look. "sorry..."

"No... That kiss was exactly what I needed... I'll meet you at your office when I get Harumi up so we can see what her uncle, the Kazekage, wants." Temari sniffed as she calmed down from her crying fit. Naruto rubbed her cheek before he stood up and left the room.

X  
In the Hokage's office  
X

Naruto sat at his desk and picked up the paper on his desk. A large messenger bird had been used to bring the message. Before Naruto read it, he began to think about how his thunder god jutsu could be used to ease the burden of the messenger birds, but decided that looking into it would be fit for another time. He broke the seal and opened the letter. It read:

_Naruto,  
I trust you took learning about your daughter well, as Temari hasn't come back as instructed if you were mad. Now that you know of your daughter, I want you to know I was the first to want to tell you. Even as we fought side by side on one of our battles against Madara years ago, I couldn't tell you. I know I owed you for saving me two times, but my sister wouldn't let me say anything. Now that you know, however, you should know I am going to be coming to the leaf village soon to speak with you about what you plan to do with my sister now. If you choose to stay with her, there is more to discuss.  
-Gaara_

Naruto looked at the letter with a strange look, feeling like there was a hidden meaning in his last statement. As he thought what it could have been, Temari walked into the room. Harumi walked next to her, holding her mothers hand tightly. Naruto looked up and smiled at them brightly with his usual toothy grin. Temari shot the grin back when Naruto was looking, causing him to blush slightly. She looked beautiful to him when she did that.

"God damn, I hope your daughter doesn't do that damn grin..." Neji murmured, causing Naruto to laugh and Temari to fume, having not seen him there at first. Harumi had understood what they were referring to, and she instantly tried her best to copy her mother and father. She closed her eyes too tight and it looked like she was forcing her eyes to close. Her smile was almost scary. Neji grunted and left the room. He wasn't mad that she had basically mocked him. He had other reasons, such as being jealous of them having a child. Temari and Naruto laughed when they saw their daughter's face. Harumi dropped the silly face and walked to her dad's desk, and wiggled her way up the chair to his lap. Temari walked over, and stood opposite Naruto.

"What did Gaara want?" Temari asked. Naruto stretched his harm out and handed her the letter. Temari took it as Naruto spoke.

"Nothing really. Just casual talk. But there is one part of this letter that-"

"Oh my god..." Temari whispered as she cut Naruto off. Harumi and Naruto both looked at Temari curiously. She sat the letter down and looked at Naruto. "Harumi, your uncle is coming here. Naruto... I thought because we already had Harumi, he would skip this... But... If you really want to stay with me... Gaara is going to fight you..."

"W...what?" Naruto asked. "why?"

"When a relative of the Kazekage is to be married, than the relatives lover is challenged to a fight to insure strength in the child, and the ability to defend the relative..." Temari explained. Naruto looked shocked.

"How long do I have until I have to fight!" Naruto yelled sounding concerned. Harumi looked at him with a confused look on her face.

"I guess Gaara will decide when he gets here..." Temari answered. Naruto picked Harumi up off his lap and stood up. He started to walk for the door.

"Whatcha doin' daddy?" Harumi asked as she walked to Temari.

"Going to talk to uncle Sasuke, sweetie... Daddy has to train."

X  
One week later  
X

A hectic week had passed before Gaara showed up to the leaf village. Naruto spent his time getting up in the morning to do personal training, then going to Sasuke's training spot to train with him, and it ended with Naruto getting home and falling into his bed dead tired. Temari had moved into the Hokage's mansion after asking Naruto's permission, to which he agreed. In truth, he was nervous about sharing a bed with Temari full time, but he really liked the idea about having Harumi close by. While he trained, Temari would bring Harumi by to watch her father train.

Yet on the day Gaara came, there was little sleep on Naruto's part. He had stayed up most of the night as he thought of the fight. According to Sasuke, Gaara had kept his ultimate defense in top shape even with the absence of Shikaku. While Sasuke said it was better than before, Naruto internally hoped he was wrong.

As Gaara walked into the gate of the leaf village with Kankuro and Baki at his side, Naruto, Temari with Harumi, and Neji met them at the gate.

"Hello, Hokage" Gaara instantly said. Naruto looked awkwardly at him before responding.

"Hi..."

Naruto knew by the way he said it that this was no longer a meeting between friends, but a Kazekage with his sisters suitor. As much as it made Naruto nervous to think he was going up against someone who was taking his villages traditions to heart, he knew his friend was only playing the part... He hoped.

"You look awful Gaara. Are you Ok?" Temari instantly said after the greetings.

"I'm fine. I deprived myself of sleep so I would be more like I once was for this. Village customs decree it..." Gaara answered. Naruto heard this and thought of the fight that they would have ahead. "I would like to speak to the Hokage alone in his office..." Gaara murmured. Everyone looked to Naruto for any sign of fright, which he showed.

"W-w-w-why is that?" he asked.

"We must discuss what will be done." 

X  
In the Hokage's office  
X

Naruto sat at his desk while Gaara took the seat across from him. The two had not spoken in three years at least and had a lot to catch up on, but that was not going to be the topic of this conversation.

"Are you sure we are alone?" Gaara asked, sounding annoyed. Naruto looked out the window for a second and nodded to Gaara.

"Yeah..." Naruto said activating a sound seal on the room. He didn't like being in a room where no one could hear him cry for help if he needed, but it was necessary that they talk in complete private.

"Thank KAMI!" Gaara yelled and relaxed in his seat. Naruto had jumped out of his chair when Gaara had yelled. "I've been so tired and I wanted to sleep while we had this meeting..."

"But... You're not going to kill me then?"

"I don't plan on it... If you plan on staying with Temari we must have a brutal fight, but I don't plan on killing you. We will just fight. That's really it. So do you plan on staying with Temari?"

"Yes." Naruto said after a moment of thought. It wasn't a long thought process. It was simple. He wanted to be closer to Temari, and wanted to stay with his daughter. If he had to fight for them, than so be it.

"Than we fight in the open area of the Chuunin exam arena. You can have one more day to prepare, but we must do it soon so I can get back..."

"Ok..." 

X  
Later that night, in the Hokage's room.  
X

Temari had left Naruto alone that day. She had been afraid of the outcome of the meeting, and she didn't want to press an answer out of Naruto. Yet as she laid down she knew she wouldn't be able to sleep if she didn't know.

"So did you agree to fight Gaara?" she asked. It was a question that had two parts. One part was he going to fight Gaara. Another part was he going to fight for her.

"Yeah." Naruto answered. "I want to be with my daughter... And I really want to try to be with you. I know that sounds wrong, but I believe I will... Love you... Some day. And I won't know unless I fight him. We won't know until we can try..."

Temari sat and listened in silence. She had no idea what to say. She knew deep down her brother wouldn't kill him, but she was still scared. Gaara was a loving brother, but he still believed in the villages customs. If Naruto didn't win, she would have to leave with Harumi and only come back on official business. She could only guess how Naruto would suffer in that situation.

"I believe you can win..." Temari said gripping the blanket tightly. Naruto looked at her with a shocked expression. She stared at the blankets on the bed blushing. She wasn't used to being like this, and him starring at her didn't help her blush. She tried to ignore him to keep her blush down.

Until he leaned over and kissed her cheek.

Naruto instantly laid down and pulled the blanked up to his chest. Temari's eyes had shot open the second she felt his lips on her cheek. It was the second kiss he had given her since she arrived. While the first was better in her mind, this one had it's appeal.

Rather than getting mad because she wouldn't get sleep now, she turned to look at him relaxing in bed. "can I... Cuddle with you?"

Naruto opened his once closed eyes, and smiled brightly. "sure you can."

Temari laid down and slowly a made her way to him. As he moved his arm around her shoulders, she laid her head on his chest. For the first few moments, it was awkward trying to get comfortable. After that it was the closest they could get with Harumi across the room on a little bed. As they relaxed and started to fall asleep, despite tomorrow's upcoming stressful activities, Naruto realized how much he liked doing things like this. He realized he would miss this terribly if she was forced to leave. He realized he couldn't lose this fight. For once in his life, he planned what to do in his fight.

X  
The next day, at the arena  
X

Naruto and Gaara stood in the fight circle, with most of the leaf village's ninja in the stand along with Gaara's guard duty, watched on for the fight to start. Temari and Harumi sat in the seats where Naruto would sit during the Chuunin exams. It was an easy place for Naruto and Gaara to spot so they both knew why they were fighting. As Naruto watched Gaara for any sign of movement the people in the stands leaned in to watch for the same thing from either of them. Neither of the fighters seemed to want to move, which made the tension in the arena palpable.

Naruto decided to attack because he couldn't take the wait any longer. He made a mad dash for Gaara, who seemed slightly amazed by the speed. As the ultimate defense sand barrier came up, Naruto pulled his hand back and formed the Rasengan. Gaara barely got the barrier up in time to block the powerful attack.

The Rasengan hit the sand with the vortex power to rip through the barrier. Gaara's eyes widened as he saw the Rasengan rip through the shield of sand and go straight for his face.

"SHIT!" Gaara yelled loudly as he took the Rasengan to his face. The rotation of the Chakra threw Gaara into the air and spun him rapidly at break-neck speed. He slammed into the wall thirty feet off the ground, yet still a ways off from hitting the people.

As Gaara fell from the crater he made in the wall, people gasped as he fell to the ground without moving. Naruto waited, Absolutely sure he was going to land on his feet at the last second. It never happened like that though.

Gaara impacted the ground with great force. Greater force than someone Gaara's weight should have hit falling from that distance. Naruto took this time to quickly gather natural Chakra as he knew this fight was far from over.

"Did he just kill the Kazekage?" one ninja's voice asked.

"How could this happen?" another called.

"He's not even doing anything to help the Kazekage!" Naruto heard. Only Naruto had realized that Gaara didn't need help. Naruto did.

A massive hand of sand shot from the cloud of dust that Gaara had created when he fell. Naruto opened his eyes, now in sage mode, just in time to see and react to the hand. Naruto threw his hands up and caught the hand in mid air as people in the stands gasped in surprise that the Kazekage was still alive. As Naruto fought with the giant hand that tried to press him into a bloody mass on the ground he failed to notice the hand was slowly covering his hands in sand so it could crush them. When the sand got to his wrists however, he noticed. Thinking quick due to his planning he created two Rasengan into his palms. Quickly using a sage jutsu, he expanded the Rasengan's size by at least twenty times.

The hand exploded as the Rasengan attack did what it was supposed to do. With the sand scattered everywhere, Naruto jumped away quickly so he was at a safe distance.

When the dust settled the people saw how Gaara had survived. He was covered in sand armor that was now cracked and broken from the Rasengan. Gaara stood calmly with his arms crossed like usual. Hand swept around him as he waited for his armor to repair.

Naruto wasn't going to give him that peace of mind though. He sprinted toward Gaara as he pulled out a kunai win a special tag on it. He tapped the tag to activate it, and threw it in the air. When it activated, it summoned a shower of thunder god kunai. Gaara's eyes widened when he realized what Naruto planned to do. If he couldn't overpower him right away with one attack, he would have to use several attacks in rapid succession. That was where the thunder god jutsu came in.

When the kunai hit the ground, Naruto teleported behind Gaara and hit him with a palm, putting a seal on his back for the thunder god jutsu. He then appeared in front of Gaara and hit him with a jutsu he had worked on for a year, even with the shadow clones.

Having 3 Chakra affinities, Naruto had added the elements to his Rasengan, giving him four deadly weapons. At this point, he felt his lightning element Rasengan was the right path.

When he teleported he gathered his lightning Rasengan, the hammer of thunder jutsu.

When he hit Gaara with it, it instantly pierced the sand armor and stunned Gaara badly. When it hit Gaara it gave off the sound of a loud thunder clap, shaking the arena with the intensity only thunder could bring. When Gaara dropped, Naruto backed away. He knew the fight was going to go on. Gaara wasn't weak enough for that to beat him. If it wasn't for the sand armor, the attack would have shredded his body into a bloody pulp.

Preparing to gather his other Rasengan attack, he failed to notice Gaara standing behind him. What he had hit was a sand clone, covered in sand armor.

Before Naruto knew it he was sent into the air from a massive sand fist punching him in the back. Heavily dazed, he didn't see the spikes form on the ground before he was feet from them, and only had time to teleport to the kunai closest to his position.

As he hit the ground with a thud, he looked to the other Gaara, the sand clone, and saw it explode into a sand cloud.

The sand that was a fist flew above Naruto and formed into a sand slab that looked like it weighed a ton literally.

"Naruto!" Temari yelled from the stands. "above you!"

Naruto quickly spun around and gathered his other Rasengan quickly. The slab would kill him if he didn't react. As the slab came down, the attack was ready. The water Rasengan, typhoon sphere jutsu.

He hit the slab with the ground still to his back, using the earth as support. The water jutsu overpowered the earth attack Gaara was using, and shattered most of the slab. Some of it still hit Naruto however.

A bit of the slab the size of a standard brick hit Naruto square on his ankle, breaking it instantly. As he screamed in pain, he realized the slab would have killed him. He knew Gaara had to make this convincing, but he didn't know he was leaving it to Naruto whether or not he would survive this fight. Naruto teleported to the furthest kunai from Gaara. He cursed that he didn't have the earth affinity so be could make a quick cast so he could fight. Quickly taking a kunai out, he bit on the Handle to deal with the pain as he stood up. The pain was intense when he stood. He fought a scream as his ankle throbbed in absolute protest. He was standing on a shattered ankle.

Knowing he needed to end the fight then and there, he took out one of his fathers kunai. Throwing the kunai, he prepared the typhoon sphere jutsu. The moment it got near Gaara, he would teleport.

Seeing the urgency in Naruto's eyes, Gaara fought internally what to do. He could throw a thick shield of sand between him and the attack. He could throw a thin layer of armor on to protect himself from the attack and make it seem like he got beat by Naruto. Whatever he was going to do, he had to do it now.

The kunai got closer to Gaara, and Naruto teleported in time to see a shield of sand come up and catch the kunai. When Naruto appeared by the shield he slammed the jutsu into the shield. The shield dispersed, and the still powerful jutsu struck Gaara in the chest, sending Gaara flying in a torrent of water that was exploding from the rotating sphere. Gaara was slammed into the wall of the arena with water twisting him violently against the wall. The pressure of the water was enough to start breaking the stone wall behind Gaara and knock the wind out of Gaara in an attempted shout of pain. Naruto placed his other hand on his wrist and blasted lightning Chakra through the water slamming into Gaara. Gaara lost consciousness thinking about how he was doing Naruto another favor. He hadn't killed him for knocking his sister up years ago. The fight was over. Everybody cheered. The Hokage had won. 

X  
Later, at the hospital  
X

Naruto was laying in the hospital bed. His first realization was that he was wearing a cast as if he had a broken arm. Harumi was laying next to him on the bed because she has demanded to be next to her father the whole time he would be in the hospital. Temari was sitting in the seat by the bed when he woke up, and Gaara was in the bed on the other side of the room. Gaara was awake, and looked to Naruto when he saw movement.

"You won daddy!" Harumi yelled as she bounced happily in the bed. Naruto smiled and almost laughed when the sudden pain in his ankle erupted. Harumi instantly stopped, almost sensing his distress.

"What the hell!" Naruto yelled as he went to guard his ankle.

"According to standards, after the fight saying you won, you must recover with the help of my sister. No medical jutsu may be used. I know you're Hokage, but tradition must be upheld." Gaara stated. Naruto looked at him for a second.

"Does that include medication?" Naruto asked.

"You may have medication... But with that ankle you will probably be out for a month." Gaara answered. Naruto looked to Temari with a scared look. He hadn't realized until now how bad his ankle really was. It was absolutely shattered, and would hurt all the time. He knew so.

"Will you help-" he started.

"Yes." Temari blurted. She quickly looked away, blushing, when she saw Gaara and Naruto look surprised and stare at her.

"Me go to the bathroom..." Naruto finished. Temari looked at him strangely again before realizing he meant now. She blushed as he started to squirm where he was sitting. She knew this would be a long month.

**A/N: I do not plan on writing a chapter for every week of that month. One for the start, and another at the end of his injury. Also, I know some of you are going to freak out about Naruto's new attack, and "why didn't he use those in his last fight?". Well I didn't think of it then. Lol. Oh well. Read and review. Hope you like this chapter!  
**

**~lord-maiku!**


	6. Love

Naruto Shippuden: Peace No More

Chapter 6: Love

**Disclaimer: I still don't own Naruto...**

**A/N: this is going to be an awkward chapter in the sense that it follows Temari mostly as the main character. Its not going to be first person or anything, but it does follow her around more than Naruto like it usually does. Also, I'm thinking 12 chapters for this story would be perfect. That way I can end it on a note people will enjoy, but leave it open for a sequel. Enjoy!**

Temari woke up the next morning thinking yesterday's events were all a dream. When she felt the tough cast on her lovers leg, she knew it was all too true. Naruto had a broken ankle that seemed to pain him a lot, and even prevented him from doing some usual things that Temari had to help with now, such as dressing him. Today, she would have to give him a bath or something to clean the sweat and dirt off of him. He needed it.

Her day usually started at 8 in the morning when Harumi decided to wake up and want food. Going to the nice kitchen area in the Hokage tower, she prepared strong tea for herself, and rice, miso soup (which tastes like crap...), and fish for Harumi (that's what people eat for breakfast in Japan, so says Wikipedia. Japanese readers, all 5 of you, speak up!). While Harumi ate, Temari prepared extra tea, and took it to Naruto who was still asleep. He would be up soon and want something to help him wake up. After taking him his tea, she would check with Neji about any urgent matters that could need Naruto's immediate attention. But today wasn't usual.

When she woke up, Harumi was still asleep, so she decided that now would be a good time to get Naruto washed. Getting that out of the way would ease her conscious about having to was him when she hadn't seen him naked in over 4 years.

She gently rested her hand on Naruto's chest and shook him slightly. "Naruto! Wake up." she whispered. When Naruto turned away from her in his sleep and started to snore loudly. Temari quickly punched him, and covered his mouth when he tried to wake up, now awake after the rude awakening. He slowly turned his head to look at her with side eyes. Temari motioned for him to be quiet and pointed in the direction of Harumi's bed. He nodded and she uncovered his mouth.

"Time for a bath. Sorry I had to punch you... You. Started to snore, and I wanted Harumi to get her sleep." Temari whispered to him. Naruto looked over to see Harumi sleeping and nodded in agreement. Temari got up and walked to Naruto's side of the bed. Getting his crutches ready. As he got his legs off the bed, she extended her arms to help him stand. Once he was up, she gave him the crutches. Him getting around the rooms wasn't a problem, but stairs were and the bathtub was sure to be a pain.

As they got into the bathroom, Temari realized she would be seeing him naked for the first time in four years. Though the first time hardly counted as they were in the dark, she would be able to see every bit of him. As she started to get nervous, Naruto did too. They stood in science for a moment before he finally spoke.

"Um... I need help..." he said referring to probably being unable to get his pants off his cast if he were to do it himself. Temari swallowed hard before she walked over to him and undid his pants button and zipper. She took a deep breath before sliding his pants and boxers down at once. She wasn't afraid to see him naked. Just nervous.

Getting his pants from his ankles was the worst part of it because she had to get on her knees to get his pants off his cast. With her face only inches away from his manhood made them both blush. Once she got them off, she realized something that was going to make this difficult. She was getting turned on by this.

Naruto got his shirt off and stood naked in front of her. As she started to help him into the tub, she kept glancing at his body, which turned to staring. The whole time, she didn't realized she hadn't prepare the bath, and simply sat him in an empty tub.

"Temari... The water?" Naruto said, breaking her from her trance.

"Oh my god, I'm sorry!" she said turning the faucet on. She didn't succeed in anything but forgetting about the shower being switched on, and getting her hair and back soaked. Screaming in surprise, she flipped the faucet to the bath setting and looked shyly to Naruto. He had water on him, save for his cast on his left ankle was propped up over the tubs edge.

"That was cold... Naruto said as he wiped the cold water from his body as the bath began to fill with warm water.

"I'm sorry..." Temari whispered, sounding upset. Her hair and shirt were wet, and now Naruto was mad at her. Her day was starting out bad. She had hoped seeing Naruto naked would mean her day would be good. No such luck.

"I'm not mad! I promise!" he reassured. She looked at him with uncertainty in her eyes. To prove his point, he smiled his toothy grin and splashes the warm water at her, soaking her face and more of her shirt. She looked shocked for a second before looking at Naruto.

"Really?" she demanded. He gave a sheepish smile as she stood up. "really?"

"Yup."

"*Huff*... Screw this..."

-LEMON-

Naruto moved like he was going to stop her from leaving, but when she didn't turn to go, he looked up at her. She was removing her soaked shirt.

In truth, Temari had been hoping for a reason to join him in the bath since he got naked. She hated appearing this weak against his unintentional sex appeal. She didn't want to do something like this when she was openly trying to give him his space. She just couldn't take it.

As she ripped the bra from her body, Naruto looked in shock. He wasn't expecting this to happen. He always heard women had a lot of self control. This went against everything he knew about the opposite sex.

As Temari started to work on her pants, Naruto was unable to look away from her progressively more naked body. Her breasts looked better than they had years ago, making Naruto wonder if she were using a jutsu like Tsunade. As she removed her pants, Naruto felt the heat rising in his face. Seeing her fully nude was making things difficult for him. As she pulled the ties from her hair to let it fall to her shoulders, he was realizing he had missed her all these years. It was the closeness he had gotten from her. She was the first to ever say she loved him. She had his daughter. While she had her own reasons for being with him, he thanked Kami that he had her. Harumi and Temari had been there for less than a month now, but he felt like they had always been there. He had fought for them against Gaara. He protected them against Genkou and his group of merc-nin. Now Temari was helping him recover from his injuries, and about to take a bath with him.

Temari got into the bath with him, wincing when she felt how hot she had made the bath. Naruto made room by scooting over in the slightly bigger than usual tub. The two were silent for a moment. Neither of them seemed to be able to get over the awkward situation at first.

"Do you want me to get out?" she asked sheepishly. She suddenly felt embarrassed about the situation she got herself into.

"No!" Naruto answered quickly with more of a shout than a nice, soothing voice. Temari looked shocked at him for a second. 'maybe he wanted this too...' she thought.

Temari leaned over the edge of the tub to get a wash rag, exposing her butt to Naruto. While it was unintentional, Temari hadn't really thought about it. Naruto on the other hand, had noticed instantly. As she fought to grab the wash cloth, it gave Naruto plenty of time to become mesmerized by her backside. Seeing it up close and in the light made him forget what he was doing all together, and placed his hand on her soft butt. The moment he touched it, he had snapped out of his trance quickly, and realized what he was doing. All in a second, he had expected her to yell and slap him. He diet expect what she actually did.

Feeling his hand on her butt, she moaned in pleasure to his touch. She quickly covered her mouth in shock at what she just did. She turned her head to look at Naruto, who's eyes were as wide as hers. Temari moved back into the tub slowly, removing her hand from her face, and kissing Naruto with passion. She rested her hands on his chest as she internally fought herself to break the kiss. Her body and mind screamed yes with all the passion that could be mustered, while her conscious told her she was forcing Naruto into his and to stop. She was ablutions to force herself away when she felt Naruto wrap his arms around her neck and pull her on top of him. Seeing her strip, get wet, and show her butt off had left him hard. His hard member pressed at her pelvis, and she moaned.

"Naruto..." Temari started as she stopped their kiss abruptly. "I'm sorry... We should stop... I didn't mean to take advantage of you..."

"Don't stop." he begged, trying to pull her back to him. As soon as she realized what he said, she jumped on top of him, and pressed her lips to his. He moved his hands to her chest and massaged her breasts. Moaning, Temari reached behind her and grabbed his erection, stroking it gently.

Naruto moaned as she continued, driving him wild as she pressed her breasts to his face. As he took one of her nipples in his mouth and massaged it with his tongue, he moved his hand down her body. Shivering, she quickened her hands pace in anticipation. When his hand touched her pussy, she moaned and shook in anticipation. He rubbed at her clitoris, making her shake with pleasure and break their kiss to moan out loud.

"Naruto! I need you in me now..." she moaned She stopped stroking him. She moved her hands to support herself on the tubs edge, and waited for Naruto to position himself. Naruto positioned his hard member at her entrance. As Temari lowered herself on him, Naruto shuddered. Temari winced, not having anyone in her for years, the last being Naruto himself.

Temari rested her head on Naruto's shoulder as she readied herself to move. Feeling her lover inside of her had almost made her cum, and would have, if it wasn't for the slight pain from her not being sexually active in over 4 years.

When she felt the slight pain leave her, she began to bounce on Naruto. While it was awkward with his leg up on the edge of the tub, Temari ignored it and rode him with all the intensity she wished she could have used for years. Naruto moved his hands to her butt, and held on tightly as she rode him.

"Temari! This feels so good!" Naruto moaned as Temari continued to bounce on him. Temari pushed her lips to his as they continued. Though her orgasm was coming close, she thanked her god that this happened, though quick. Naruto was just as close as her, not having sex in a long time, but sadly to him now, not all that long ago. He had never chased girls down, but they chased after him.

"Naruto! I'm going to cum!" Temari yelled, breaking their kiss.

"I'm almost there!" he moaned. Once she began to tighten around him, he lost controls and came inside of her, unable to do anything else. Temari collapsed after they finished. It may have been a quickie, but it was exactly what they both needed. Now though, Naruto was simply water washed, and it was going to stay like that till at least later. Both of them heavily breathing, they sat up. Temari got off of him and sat by the faucet. Naruto sat sideways so both legs hung over the edge of the tub.

"God, I needed that..." Temari sighed in happiness.

"Should have said something sooner." Naruto said, with his breathing returning to normal. "I would have given you that."

"I didn't want a one time thing. I still don't. Next time, it will be because you love me... Not because I want it..." Temari said as she tried to get up.

"I know..." Naruto mumbled. He was making his current situation work with everything he had. While he knew he didn't have to try so hard, he loved Harumi and wanted things to work out. "you know what you could use? A day to yourself..."

"Wait..." Temari paused, out of the tub and about to dry herself off. " you would watch Harumi so I could go out and have a day to myself?"

"I would. I need to bond with my daughter." Naruto insisted. Temari got a happy grin on her face and jumped back into the tub, assaulting Naruto with a vicious hug. It had been forever since she had a day to herself, and Naruto was willing to give her one now. While she loved Harumi more than life itself, she had wanted a day alone, surrounded by people she could have a real conversation with.

"Thank you!" she yelled as she hugged Naruto with all the love and strength she could muster. Naruto smiled in happiness as he was slowly choked by Temari.

X  
In the Hokage's bedroom  
X 

Harumi was awake now, sitting on Naruto's lap as Temari got ready to leave. Fixing her hair after the bathroom romp, Temari was just about ready to go as Harumi bombarded her with questions, never really being gone from her mom for a whole day like she was going to be today.

"Where are you going?" Harumi questioned her mother.

"Probably shopping, then to see if any of the leaf villages Kunoichi want to hang out, then to eat I guess. That's all I can think of for now." Temari answered.

"Who are you going to hang out with?" Harumi continued.

"Whoever wants to I guess."

"We should let your mother go, Ok honey?" Naruto said to his daughter. Harumi looked a little sad and nodded.

"Be good for your father." Temari said snapping into mama bear mode for a moment.

"Yes, mommy!" Harumi said quickly.

"I'll be back soon." Temari said as she left the room, leaving Naruto and Harumi to catch up in the time to come. She wouldn't worry about Naruto getting to the bathroom. He had plenty of aid to help him if he needed it. 

X  
In the shopping district  
X 

Temari spent the first hour looking through the market, seeing things she had never seen. When Harumi was born, it had changed the way she lived. She didn't have the time she once did, and had even less to herself without Naruto to watch Harumi every now and then. She was finding the latest technology almost scary (think home TVs and 16 bit computers now, considering what is in Shippuden right now). She found plenty of new books to read, and even found a few things for Harumi to play with. As she thought of what she would get Naruto as a gift, she spotted a make-out paradise book on the best-sellers shelf. Half surprised to see one of those still on the shelf, she picked it up to look at it. Thinking it must have been a special edition, she looked at the back cover to see Naruto's picture on the back. Naruto himself was the author. Trying not to laugh at the idea of Naruto writing a very perverted book, she flipped it to look at the cover again. The title almost made her drop the book, it being called: come-come desert. She quickly grabbed the book, stuffed it with the things she was buying, and went to pay for the things.

Once she got out of the store, she found a near by bench and hid the make-out paradise novel inside of another larger book she got so she could read a few pages.

As Temari read the book, she realized her initial fear was true. The story was heavily based off of the two of them hooking up, with some inclusion of their first meeting being closer to the time, and more romantic. She fought to either giggle or rip the book in half. Neither got to happen, as Temari happened to look up and see a small group of Konoha Kunoichi approaching her. Amongst them was Sakura, Karin, Ino, and Hinata. While she had no real reason for hating Hinata, she didn't like being around her. Neji had told her all about Hinata's crush on Naruto, and the lengths it went. She knew she was more jealous than anything, but her feelings stood their ground on Hinata.

After shoving her books away, she greeted them. "hey, girls." she said. It almost sounded silly to her, but the four of them, save Hinata of course, were talking like they were a sisterhood.

"Hi, Temari! Got the day to yourself?" Sakura asked.

"Yup. Just enjoying this village." Temari answered.

"Naruto let you have a break?" Sakura joked, with the obvious sexual joke in the open.

"Heh..." she said awkwardly. "kinda..."

"Ah, so you are Naruto's girlfriend, huh?" Karin asked. "I don't really listen to rumors, but I heard something about a girlfriend..."

"Have sex yet?" Ino asked quickly. Temari was taken by surprise, and blushed heavily, lowering her face as she tried to think of a response.

"That a girl!" Karin yelled. Sakura felt like she knew where this was going, and was about to step in and stop it when Hinata almost appeared in her way out of thin air. Like she was trying to let this get out. That Naruto had slept with both Karin and Ino.

"He is so good, isn't he?" Ino sighed.

"What?" Temari said almost shocked, one of her fears being realized.

"He's really hot, too..." Karin added. Sakura got around Hinata and faced the two.

"Guys, I'd like you two to meet the MOTHER OF NARUTO'S CHILD!" Sakura yelled. She stared angrily at the two of them for a second before yelling again. "if you would simply read the paper without hitting Shikamaru with it, Ino, than you wouldn't have opened your fat mouth when she obviously didn't know. I'm not happy it was hidden, but Naruto should have been the one to tell her. Not you two. And Karin, we know you spread rumors, so you should have listened to the biggest news around the damn village! How did you miss the news about the damn fight that happened yesterday involving her and the child! I know you were on missions, but you both have relationship with people who could have informed you!"

Temari sat in shock, looking at Sakura. Having only been here for less than a month, Sakura was becoming a fast friend. Everyone else was obviously an enemy...

Ino and Karin both lowered their heads in shame as they realized what was being said. They almost cried and ran to Temari when they saw her sad face. They knew though that their apologies would be met with punches.

"Temari..." Karin started. It was a whisper of a sound, and went almost unheard. "I'm so sorry..."

"Me too... I feel like such a whore..." Ino murmured. They both looked ashamed. Temari felt worse now, because she had put off telling Naruto about the child for too long and this happened. She couldn't blame him for letting it happen. She could be mad for him not saying anything about it, but she wasn't. She didn't have any right to pry like that.

"It's..." Temari choked, and realized she was crying. "Ok..."

"You three, leave." Sakura ordered. Karin and Ino looked at Temari with sorrow in their eyes. Hinata turned and walked away, seeming very unlike herself. "now!"

As both Karin and Ino left, Sakura walked to the bench Temari sat on and sat next to her. Temari put her hands on her face and sobbed slightly. Sakura put her arm around her and pulled her closer.

"I... I could have... Come sooner..." Temari sobbed. "it wouldn't have happened then...!"

"Temari, why didn't you come sooner?"

"I... I was scared!"

"Scared of what Naruto would think?" Sakura asked. "or that he would already be married?"

"B-b-both..."

"Temari, you weren't ready. We both know how Naruto is. He would rather be Hokage than peruse a relationship." Sakura said trying to lift Temari's spirits. "and it's not like he married them. He didn't even chase after them. They chased him down. Karin was saved by Naruto years ago. Ino, as much as I love her, WAS kind of a whore..."

Temari sat in silence. Knowing why didn't help. Being talked to about it did. She had never really had someone to talk to her when she was upset. She was wishing now that she had been Sakura's friend since the Akatsuki mission long ago. She could have been so much better off.

"And you know what. He never had and never will love them. You know what though? I think he loves you... After all, he fought for you..." Sakura said looking at Temari.

"He fought for Harumi..." Temari sobbed feeling worse now.

"Of course he did. But I'm sure he fought for you too. Tell me, is he happy around you?" Sakura questioned. Temari thought about the past weeks she had been there. Besides the first few days, he has seemed very happy. He smiles a lot. He jokes a lot. He even wraps his arms around her at night. 'maybe he does...' Temari started to think.

"Yes, but I can't ask him... I can't put myself through that..."

"What happened the last time you waited on something important?" Sakura reminded her. Temari winced at first, then realized the truth behind it.

"I... I can't do it alone..." Temari cried. This was all very unlike her. Crying made her feel stupid and weak, even when she had good reason.

"I'll go with. I'll hang outside the door. If he shoots you down, I'll punch him to death." Sakura smiled.

"S-Sakura... We haunt even been friends for a month and you are helping me so much..." Temari sniffed as she started to calm down.

"I know you lobe him, but I gotta help with that idiot. One person can't stand all of his stupidity..." Sakura joked, which got a small giggle from Temari. "come on... Let's go."

As they started to walk away, Temari remembered something she had wanted to do when she was by her self. Being the Kazekage's sister, Temari never had to learn this Certain jutsu, which half resulted in Harumi.

"Sakura, you know a lot of medical Ninjutsu, right?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Um... I need to learn the birth control jutsu..."

"Oh my god!" Sakura yelled in disbelief.

X  
In the Hokage's bedroom  
X 

Temari and Sakura stood outside the door to Naruto's bedroom. Sakura had been talking Temari down from her hysterical mood, and she thought she was ready to talk to Naruto. The plan was for Sakura to take Harumi to Neji, who was in Naruto's office, and head back up. While Sakura was gone, Temari wanted to ask Naruto a few questions first, then when Sakura got back to the door she would ask what Naruto thought of them as a couple. While Temari was nervous, it helped having Sakura there.

Temari and Sakura both entered the room, Sakura going to Harumi, who seemed happy to see her.

"Hello auntie Sakura!" she said as she jumped off the bed and ran to hug her. Temari smiled and sat her bag down by the bed.

"Did you have fun?" Naruto asked her as she sat on the bed. 'oh yeah...' she thought. 'tons of fun...'

Sakura took Harumi by the hand and led her out of the room, leaving Temari and Naruto alone. Naruto looked curiously.

"I got some stuff while I was out. I couldn't exactly find anything for you..." Temari said as she thought how she would say the things she wanted to.

"That's fine!" he said happily. "no big deal."

"I found something by you though..." Temari said as she took out the make-out paradise book he had written and showed it too him. He gulped a little, and she noticed something that told her why she had never seen anything about it in the sand village. It was a Konohagakure release only. "did you write that about us?"

Naruto noticed she didn't sound angry. She already knew the answer to that question, but had to ask anyway. Naruto sat the book down by him.

"Yeah..." he responded.

"Ok." Temari shrugged. She didn't really care, as the characters were named differently, according to the back of the book, and the events were twisted around enough to throw anyone off of it up till now, saying they had a kid.

"You're not mad?" he questioned. He expected she would have been, and that's why the book was a leaf village release only.

"No. It's fine. I do want to read it though." she said as she grabbed the book and put it back in the bag. "I got Harumi some toys, and I got myself some books. I wish I could have found you something, but I'll try harder next time..."

"You don't have to. It's not that big of a deal." he said smiling. He put his arm around her and tried to pull her close. She resisted and he stopped and pulled his arm away.

"I know about Ino and Karin..." Temari whispered in sadness. Naruto instantly jumped away from her and looked shocked.

"I'm sorry! I didn't know about Harumi, and I didn't go after them! They came to me!" he said with obvious terror in his voice. She almost laughed. Almost.

"I'm not mad... I'm sad that I didn't come sooner with Harumi so it could be avoided, but it's my own fault. You didn't knock them up or marry either of them, so it's none of my business... I just wish you would have told me rather than having to find out from their bragging..."

"Temari... I'm so sorry..." he responded. He inched back to her side and put his arms around her, and even kissed her neck to soothe the pain.

"Is... Is there anything else I should know about?" she asked. She sounded scared and upset rolled into one awful emotion.

"There is nothing else. Those are the only others..." Naruto reassured her. He was telling the truth.

"Naruto... What do you want from this relationship...?" she asked him when she heard footsteps up the stairs.

"What?" he asked, confused.

"Do... Do you love me?" Temari asked in a slight yell. Naruto looked away slowly and Temari started to cry a bit. "I'm sorry I asked... I know you probably think I'm rushing things... I'm sorr-"

"Temari..." Naruto cut her off quietly, looking back to her. "within this time we have had together, I have been doing a lot of thinking... I wrote that book when after Jiryia-sensei died... I did it not only because it was a better time in my life, but because I harbored a crush on you for a long time afterward..."

"Naruto..." Temari said in astonishment.

"Before I became Hokage, I wanted to go to the sand village so bad... But after I became Hokage, I thought two things. One was it would be so difficult to leave the village, and another was... That you probably hated me..." he said, whispering the last part. "after all, I hadn't heard or seen you in a long time already..."

"I could never hate you..." Temari sobbed. She hugged onto Naruto with all her strength, upset that he thought she hated him.

"and when I first saw you when you arrived here, I was scared you were going to beat the crap out of me... And then you pulled our daughter off your back, and everything seemed better. But then I wondered why you didn't bring her sooner. Maybe you didn't think i would be a good father. Maybe you did hate me and only came because you wanted me to see her once, and never again. I realize now I didn't have to fear those things, but I was so... Upset at the time..."

"I'm so sorry!" Temari cried.

"Don't be. I understand why. And I think if I would have been you, I would have done the same thing..." he hushed her and rubbed her head, trying to stop her from crying. He had to admit, he was getting better at this whole support thing... "and we have become so close now. At first, I was unsure about sleeping together, but I like it a lot. I really do. And yesterday when I fought and you yelled to me, it made me so happy that you didn't care what other people thought. You wanted me safe. You warned me when all others watched."

"I wasn't technically supposed to do that by the way..." Temari sighed as she started to calm down a bit.

"Then I thank you even more."Naruto whispered as he hugged her. And after the fight when I woke up, you were right there by me. You could have been by your brother, but you weren't. You would rather make sure I was OK. I realized at the moment I thought of that, that I had been fighting for you. Not just Harumi, but for you..." Naruto said. He held her hand as he was going to continue.

"Naru-"

"I love you."

Temari heard the words in disbelief. As she thought of every possible reason he would lie, tell the truth, be joking, or anything, she passed out from shock. She fell to the floor of the bedroom.

"Temari!" Naruto yelled as he jumped off the bed, feeling pain in his ankle, and kneeling by her side. After the shout and both thuds, Sakura punched the door down in anger, having not heard what Naruto said as Temari tried to talk at the exact moment.

"NARUTO!" Sakura yelled as she ran to him and punched him with enough strength to knock him out of the room, through the window.

"NOOOOOoooooo!" Naruto yelled as he flew off. Sakura quickly knelt by Temari as she regained consciousness.

"Did he hurt you?" Sakura yelled angrily.

"He..." Temari began, tears in her eyes. "loves me..."

Sakura looked at her awkwardly for a moment, thinking how out of character this all was for Temari. Then she thought how she may be angry when she finds out about Naruto's "flying lesson".

"Errr... That's great?"Sakura said and stood up. She offered a hand to Temari and helped her up.

"Where's Naruto?" Temari asked when she couldn't find him. "why is the window broken...?"

"Listen, when I came in here, you were on the ground and he was on top of you. You were passed out, and I heard two thuds." Sakura defended herself. "I thought, with as strange as everything has been recently, he hit you."

"I forgive you, but he wouldn't do that." Temari said to her friend.

"Should we go find him so I can apologize?" Sakura sighed.

"Yeah..." Temari said as they went to get Harumi and find Naruto. 

X  
At the Uchiha residence  
X

Sasuke sat outside with his kids, and watched as they played. The youngest was in Sasuke's lap. Itachi, Sasuke's oldest child, led the middle child, Tsunade, around while he walked and she crawled. the name had come to Sakura when her sensei had died a year after Naruto took up the mantle of Hokage.

"ooooooOOOOOO!" they heard in the distance, quickly approaching.

"Itachi! Get your sister!" Sasuke yelled to his son, who quickly led her toward the house. Sasuke quickly put the youngest child, Naota, in the small cradle outside, and ran to the center of the yard. When he saw Naruto flying toward him, he braced to catch him, rather than using Susanoo again. When Naruto Collided with him, they both went rolling on the ground after a hard smack of heads. When they stopped rolling from the momentum of Naruto's fall, Sasuke ended up a few feet away from Naruto, who was holding his head, as Sasuke was wearing his headband again. That forehead protector missed him, he guessed.

"Temari needs to stop sending you here like this... It's way too weird to be a coincidence now..." Sasuke muttered.

"This time it was your wife..." Naruto groaned, as his head still hurt.

"Now I know it was on purpose..." Sasuke sighed angrily. The two started to snicker, than full-out laugh. Though Naruto's laughter turned to shouts of pain as his ankle reminded him it was broken and what he just went through was a bad idea as it hurt him like it did the moment it first happened. Other than the pain, and Sakura punching him out the window, he was happy.

**A/N: there, halfway done with the story, if my plan works out. I wanted to the whole half-way mark to mean new things. Sorry if I contradicted anything in past chapters, or my spelling sucked, or anything sucked for that matter. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Read and review!**

**~lord-maiku**


	7. The Calm Before The Storm

Naruto Shippuden: Peace No More

Chapter 7: The Calm Before The Storm

xxx

**A/N: Here is the chapter. I thank you all for being so patient for it's release. There is some lemon in this chapter, and I actually put up a warning before hand, because I feel its one of the best I ever wrote. So, read and enjoy... the chapter I mean.**

xxx

**Disclaimer:i do not own Naruto or anything involved.**

xxx

Naruto sat in a chair with Sakura sitting by his cast, ready to remove it. As Sakura readied to remove his cast, Naruto shook excitedly in his seat. This was a day he had been looking forward to for quite a while. He would finally be able to train again. He would be able to do more with Harumi and Temari.

At a table near by, Sasuke and Temari sat and watched as Harumi and Itachi ran around the yard playing. Temari was also excited about Naruto having his cast removed. Naruto would be a lot happier, and that was all she wanted. As Harumi and Itachi ran around, Temari noticed Naruto bouncing excitedly in his chair.

"Naruto, honey," Temari started. "you gotta sit still so Sakura can cut your cast off without taking your leg with it."

"I'm trying, but I'm so excited!" Naruto yelled happily. Temari sighed, and her head dropped in defeat.

"I thought you wore the pants in this relationship. Isn't that what you were just saying?" Sasuke interjected.

"Shut up!" Temari yelled with a slight blush on her face. Naruto looked quizzically at them instantly as Sakura laughed a little.

"B-but... I wear pants..." Naruto murmured with a confused look on his face. In response, the others laughed aloud as Itachi and Harumi stopped and stared. Harumi slowly walked over to her father and put her hand on her father's hand.

"Daddy. You have to stop bouncing around." Harumi said seriously. The three laughing adults stopped abruptly and stared at Harumi. Naruto, Temari, and Sakura sighed in adoration. Sasuke smirked.

"Okay Harumi..." Naruto said calmly. Harumi got up and sat on Naruto's lap, and cuddled up close. Naruto wrapped her arms around tightly.

"Everything will be okay, daddy." Harumi reassured.

"I know, honey." Naruto sighed as he hugged her tightly. Temari smiled at the sight of them, wondering why she ever worried about whether Naruto would love Harumi or not. It just seamed so silly anymore. As a matter of fact, the closeness they have developed rivaled her daughter's relationship with herself. It didn't bother her at all. Since the day Harumi was born, all she wanted was Naruto to see her, and love their little girl. This sort of thing just made life at this point ok.

"Thank god...," Sakura whispered as she began to remove the cast. She needed to be very careful when removing it so she didn't cut any of the signatures on the cast. Temari and Harumi had both doodled on the cast, next to their signatures. Temari drew a cartoon-ish version of herself with the big toothy grin, showing the artistic side of herself. Harumi attempted to do the same thing, but found drawing difficult. To everyone except Harumi, it looked like random scribbles.

"He is going to be one hell of a handful now, ill bet," Sasuke murmured to Temari, "how are you going to deal with him?"

"I'm going to send him here a lot so he can train. Then, your wife and I are going to go out after you guys train so you can watch the kids," Temari answered. Sasuke smirked at the response, and looked back to Itachi, who was watching his mother cut his "uncle's" cast off. "uncle" Naruto, as Sakura called him toward her kids.

"I see. So where is the fun for us?" Sasuke wondered out loud. He looked back to Temari and saw her smile.

"When you watch the kids," Temari said seriously. Sasuke gasped at the tone of her voice, finding it more threatening than anything else. Temari made a mock gasp noise, and laughed to herself.

"If you weren't Sakura's best friend, and my best friend's girlfriend, then I would destroy you for threatening me with my own kids." Sasuke said and glared at Temari. The two glared at each other for a moment before they both started to laugh. "if Naruto enjoyed training half as much as he used to, it would be _close___to how much he loves Harumi. He used to train to prove what he could do to others. Then he trained to protect people he loved. He still doesn't know what it feels like to train to protect your children."

"Yeah..." Temari whispered as she thought about all the times she stayed up after Harumi was in bed to train. Every now and then, she would have Gaara or Kankuro babysit so she could train for a bit. But her thoughts turned darker when she thought about what would have been different if she would have brought Harumi sooner.

"Huh... Sakura is right..." Sasuke said as he broke Temari out of her mind. Temari looked to Sasuke with a confused look on her face. "your face does this when you think about not bringing Harumi out sooner," Sasuke said as he imitated the face she had made. While Naruto was injured, Temari and Sakura had hung out a lot. Both of them started to learn a lot about each other, including Temari's facial cue for her recurring thought.

"Sorry..." Temari mumbled. Sasuke smiled at her, and waved his arm.

"Shit happens. Everyone is happy now, and that is all that matters." Sasuke reassured. Temari nodded, and looked to Naruto, who still had Harumi on his lap. She smiled brightly, and had to agree with what Sasuke had said. Everyone was happy.

"It's done!" Harumi yelled excitedly. Sasuke and Temari looked at the cast, which was now on the ground.

"Yeah! I'm so happy!" Naruto yelled. It was the moment he was looking forward to about an hour after he got the injury. Now it was over. He could train, get strong, and actually play with Harumi. Of course being able to actually do things with Temari was important. Going on dates with crutches and having to hobble around just wasn't the same.

"Yeah, now take it easy for a while. Your ankle is going to be sore for a while now that you are actually going to be moving on it. Don't over do it like you used to!" Sakura yelled.

"I'll try, Sakura, but I'm just too excited to sit around!" Naruto yelled as he picked up Harumi, and proceeded to get up and run around the yard with her. Though his ankle did feel stiff, Harumi was happy and that gave him energy to run around.

"He's going to kill himself..."Sakura sighed.

"It's just his ankle, honey." Sasuke groaned back. All the while, Temari sat smiling at the sight of them. At this point, it was Naruto chasing Harumi around the yard. She had the sudden urge to join them in their father-daughter game. It could use a motherly touch... except she couldn't. She didn't like showing her "fun" side around a lot of people. She felt weak then.

"Join them," Sakura urged. She made shooing motions to Temari as Sasuke stood to play with his son. Temari watched to make sure Sasuke was going to act childish with his son. As a fellow "tough guy," Temari felt it would be less awkward if he did it. Sasuke used to be almost as fearful as her brother, and at one point, was worse.

"Itachi!" Sasuke yelled. His son quickly looked over from his sand box, and jumped up. Sasuke began to form hand seals for a jutsu, and Itachi quickly began to do the same. While Sasuke did random hand seals, Itachi was obviously doing the hand seals for the Chidori. And quickly, too. As Sakura felt a tinge of anger about Sasuke starting to train Itachi at such a young age, they charged at each other. As Sasuke closed in on Itachi, Itachi ducked under Sasuke's outstretched hand and struck Sasuke in the stomach with a flat palm. Sasuke flew backwards, pretending to be struck by the Chidori. As Sasuke rolled around on the ground in pretend pain, Itachi ran over and pounced on his father.

Temari felt she was in a safe place to show her softer side as Sasuke turned on his son and began to tickle him. Naruto was still chasing Harumi around, and Temari felt the strong urge to join. Looking to her best friend, Sakura, the two nodded. Each took off toward their respective children and lovers.

As Temari closed in on Naruto and Harumi, she went at Naruto. As she quickly got him on the ground, she started to tickle him as Harumi grabbed his arm and tried to hold him down. Naruto began to laugh loudly, and Temari started to laugh as well. Naruto froze, stunned for a moment as this was one of the first times he heard her laugh. It was the tone of absolute happiness that caught him off guard, because even after all this time, she had only laughed like that once before. And she had only shown her dominant side the same time. The only other time he saw her in utter comfort around him.

XXX-flashback (one week)-XXX

Naruto sat in the bathtub relaxing after washing, draining, and refilling the tub. His ankle was feeling noticeably better, and he could put a little more weight on his ankle every day. He was able to move around more, and even keep up with Harumi better.

With Temari, they were feeling more comfortable around each other. After announcing his love for her, he did notice her feeling less insecure about herself, being there, and she began to act like he remembered. Since then, they both tried their best to keep things calm, and do things right. While at first Temari did help Naruto with his baths, she eventually decided Naruto could do it on his own. This was decided after she couldn't hold herself back from rubbing against him anymore. Him being naked, and being so oblivious to the effect in a "destructive" manner, and she had to stop helping him when she thought he could take care of himself. Though Naruto really didn't realize why she truly stopped washing him, he figured it was because it was just time.

In the Hokage's room, which was right next to the bathroom, Harumi was fast asleep. Temari stood by the door, naked. She was wrapped in a bath towel, and was pacing in the room. Temari debated her next move. She wanted more than anything than to walk in that bathroom and get into the bath with Naruto. What really bothered her was that she had no idea how he would react. She was almost sure that he would welcome her with open arms and lusty eyes, but she had her doubts. She had calmed down a lot since she had come to the leaf, but she knew she wasn't back to normal yet. she was still worried about being too pushy.

"Come on, Temari...," she said to herself, "just go in there and try!"

Now that Temari had commanded herself, she was compelled to move. Going right for the door, she grabbed the door knob. Taking a deep breath, she knocked slightly on the door, and readjusted her towel as she waited.

Inside the bathroom, Naruto jumped when he heard the knock. The last thing he expected at almost eleven at night was a knock. Both Harumi and Temari should be in bed, and Neji should be at home now. Regardless, he had to answer.

"Hello?" Naruto called.

"May I come in?" Temari asked from behind the door. Naruto could hear the nervous tone in her voice. Nervousness was something he always found very sexy in her, because she had never seemed to show it.

"Temari?" he whispered surprised, "sure!"

"Ok... I'm coming in," she responded in a wavering voice. Doubt washed over her as she debated if the "wearing nothing but a towel and a smile" approach was such a good idea, but it was too late to back down. She threw on the best sultry smile she could muster, and entered the bathroom.

Naruto was floored by seeing her the way she was. A towel that barely covered any of her body, and a very sexual smile on her blushing face. From his angle he could see far up the towel, which only hid her pleasure zones from his sight. He saw a lot of leg, and was having a difficult time looking anywhere other than her amazing body, which seemed to turn a slight Rosie shade as he stared. 'oh, Kami! He is staring! I cant take it...' Temari thought as she felt herself move closer to him, which only let him see more of what the lower part of the towel covered. To her, he could only see upper thigh. In all actuality, he could see all of her body.

XXX-LEMON-XXX

"C-can I?" Naruto asked, moving his hand to her towel covered hip. Temari gasped in happiness at the fact he wanted her like this. She blushed more as she nodded quickly.

Naruto, in a quick movement, sat on the tub's edge suddenly. Moving his hands slightly so he parted the towel she wore, he exposed her sex to the light, for him to see. Temari gasped at the suddenly welcomed intrusion into her clothes. She moaned slightly when she felt Naruto split her sex, and run his thumb inside of her. As she grabbed his head for stability, she shivered slightly at the feeling.

"Naruto," Temari groaned as she shook from pleasure when he went over her clitoris. Naruto smiled at her moan, and targeted that spot. Moving the towel a bit more, he pushed his face into her crotch and started to lick away. "Naruto!" she gasped again. Looking down at her as he licked, she spotted his growing manhood. As it rubbed against her leg the blood rushed to her face in anticipation. She felt the warmth of his mouth and his penis against her thigh, and felt her body almost melt in desire. She almost fell from the sensation of Naruto moving his hand, and start running a finger around the rim of her vagina.

"That feel good?" Naruto teased as he continued with his hand. His tone caught her off guard, and her legs weakened to the point of needing to hold onto his shoulders for support. All the teasing, the rubbing, and the tone of his voice were bringing her close. Moving his face back, he started to lick away again at her clit. As Temari tried to stifle a moan, Naruto moved his other hand to her leg, and began to rub her soft skin, taking in the warmth of it all. Moving his hand up slowly, he eventually cupped her firm butt.

"I'm...I'm cumming!" Temari moaned loudly, when Naruto suddenly felt her entrance contracting quickly. Her juices started to flow from her as Naruto picked up his pace, making her depend on him to stay standing. It almost succeeded until an intense wave of pleasure made her legs give out, and she fell. Naruto tried to help her stand, but ended up falling on top of her.

Naruto laid on top of her, with her towel open and barely covering her breasts. His pelvis rubbed roughly against hers in the right ways to only encourage his erection. Her soaked sex coated the part of him that prodded her gently while she whimpered as his penis poked barely into her vagina.

"S-sorry..." Naruto whispered to her. As he started to get up, she wrapped her arms around him quickly, and pulled him back to her.

"Please...," she started, nervously at first. She then swallowed, and decided to take charge. "you're not going anywhere,"

Naruto gasped at the determination in her voice. The lust in her voice sent a shiver down his spine, while the determination made him stop moving completely. Temari smiled as she saw the effect she had on him, and pulled his head closer. With a sexy look in her eyes, she teased him by kissing and licking his lips lightly, begging for entrance into his mouth. Feeling himself give in, he pressed his lips to hers, trying to dominate. Not wanting to give up her control over him, she wrapped her legs around his waist. As she moved her smooth legs on his back, enticing him to start pushing his member into her, she reached one arm down and stroked his shaft as his members head prodded her.

"Temari!" Naruto moaned as she broke the kiss to see his blushing face. She smiled and stuck her tongue out slightly in an effort to tease him more.

"Be rough with me!" Temari moaned in his ear, causing him to shudder in pleasure. Naruto moved into her all the way. As he slid in, Temari shook in pleasure, and Naruto tensed as he felt the warmth and wetness of her. "oh Kami," Temari moaned as she felt him all the way in her, "you're so deep!"

"Temari...," Naruto whispered in her ear, "you're so naughty..."

"And you're not being rough..." Temari goaded. She nibbled his ear slightly as she felt him pull out of her a little bit, and slam back into her, causing Temari to moan in loudly ecstasy into his ear. The moan gave Naruto all the encouragement he needed to start pounding viciously into her, making he bury her face in his shoulder to hold back a loud moan. "it feels so good!"

"Temari! You're so tight!" Naruto moaned quietly as he continued to pound.

"I want top!" Temari demanded after moaning lustfully in her lover's ear. Naruto looked at her and nodded, pulling out to both of their dismay. Naruto picked her up and laid on her back where she was just lying. Temari crouched over him and adjusted his erection so only the tip poked into her again. "my turn to be mean..." she whispered as she started to bounce slightly so she teased him.

"Temari, you're so mean," Naruto whimpered as she teased his dick. Temari got a sly look on her face, and rested some of her small weight on her arms as well. She used a hand to lift his head closer to hers, and kissed him passionately as she bounced.

"Would you like it if I touched myself?" Temari asked as soon as she broke the romantic kiss, heavy with their passion. The look alone made it obvious that was what he wanted, and she let go of his head and began to rub her clit furiously. Naruto blushed a deep shade of red as he sat up slightly so he could watch her completely. The way her sex started to swallow more of him up as she continued. The way she moaned as she rubbed herself. The way her face reddened the longer she went.

"Oh, crap," Naruto sighed passionately, feeling the tension build up in his loins. "I'm going to cum!"

"Do...do it! I'm cumming now!" Temari said as she closed her eyes and her bouncing became erratic. Naruto could feel her vagina pulsating around his member, and after the first couple seconds, Naruto had to grab Temari's hips to help her bounce to ride him through his orgasm. "Naruto! I can feel you cumming!"

"It's so good!" he moaned as their juices mixed inside of her. As they rode out their orgasms, Temari ended up slipping so she laid on Naruto, making them both have to thrust slightly to finish. As the two lay on the floor thrusting gently, they looked up at each other with spent lust in their eyes, and kissed as their bodies continued to rock in motion.

XXX-END LEMON-XXX

When the two had finally ended their love making, they were both sweaty, out of breath, and exhausted. Their lovely, and dirty, deed was done. Temari weakly moved her hand to Naruto's, and held it as tightly as she could. Finding it difficult to move because of the most intense love making session either of them had ever had, they kissed softly.

"Say it...," Temari requested as she rubbed her head against his chest. Naruto weakly looked at her, with a look of confusion in his eyes. "if you want... that is..."

"Oh...that...," Naruto murmured, trying to catch his breath. "i love you."

"Hehehe," she giggled in the most sweet, strange sounding (for Temari, with the way he pictured her) laugh he ever thought he would hear. Almost like a school-girl-ish laugh, yet slightly lower in pitch. Naruto looked at her with the most surprised look he could make at that point. Temari, who saw this look, blushed. She had rarely let anyone hear that laugh. Only Harumi, Gaara, and Kankuro knew of that laugh. Everyone except for Harumi had sworn secrecy about the laugh.

"D-did you just..." Naruto stammered. Temari quickly looked away from him in embarrassment, thinking that her laugh had ruined the moment they were trying to end perfectly. She was just about to try and get up when she felt a hand weakly grab her chin, and move her face toward his. She had a scarlet blush of shame on her face when Naruto kissed her softly again. "i found it very cute, you know."

"You cant tell anybody...," she said, ashamed.

"I wont. That is your cute little quirk that stays with me." Naruto said giving her the best fox grin he could make. Temari blushed again, and smiled nervously.

"I love you too, just so you know...," Temari whispered, and gave the sudden fox grin back. The two proceeded to laugh, allowing Naruto to hear her lovely laugh again.

XXX-end flashback-XXX

Naruto hugged onto Temari tightly after remembering their fun together. Temari at first looked confused, but realized she had just made the laugh. After a quick look to make sure Sasuke and Sakura hadn't been staring at her because they heard, she gave a firm kiss to Naruto. Naruto, who was happy about having his cast taken off, hugged her tightly as Harumi jumped on them, laughing.

After the games were done, Naruto, Temari, and Harumi were ready to go. Standing outside, the three of them said their good byes, and turned to leave. The three walked their way toward their house, Naruto being in the center. On his left, Temari happily held his arm. On his right, Harumi held his hand and looked around as they got toward the more populated area.

"You guys wanna get something to eat?" Naruto asked them.

"Sure," Temari said happily.

"Ramen!" Harumi yelled excitedly. Temari sighed, feeling her daughter was becoming too much like her father. Naruto smiled, and nodded.

"That's the plan," Naruto laughed.

"I have the feeling you two would eat ramen every night if you could..." Temari mumbled.

"We did, whenever you and Sakura would go out." Naruto mentioned. Temari instantly dug her fingers into his arm, and looked at him slightly angerly.

"You know, just because you can somehow survive on that stuff, doesn't mean she can. She needs to eat healthy things..." she whispered to him.

"I know, but she wanted it." Naruto quickly responded.

"And sometimes, you have to tell her no. you cant spoil her."

"Yes, dear..."

The three walked into Ramen Ichiraku, and sat down. Harumi was seated between her two parents. Teuchi walked up to them instantly.

"There's my little girl!" Teuchi said, happy to see Harumi.

"Grandpa Teuchi!" Harumi yelled excitedly. Harumi had been there several times since coming to the leaf village. Either when Naruto hobbled there with his crutches, or before he was injured. Teuchi had always viewed Naruto as a son, so he instantly viewed Harumi as a granddaughter. Harumi liked the idea, and called Teuchi his granddaughter. Temari liked the idea because Harumi had no real grandparents and this would give her something.

"So what is the house buying for my little granddaughter?" Teuchi asked. Teuchi had never charged for either Temari or Harumi since they got there. Naruto had always insisted, and didn't mind. The moment Teuchi had said he would never charge the two, Naruto felt the two were really accepted.

"I want everything!" Harumi bellowed excitedly. She could eat quite a bit, and loved doing so. Temari had tried to cut her appetite back. Naruto had made her efforts pointless.

"Now, honey," Temari called calmly. "order one thing at a time. That way you don't waste food."

"I agree with your mother." Teuchi said smiling. Harumi puffed her face up, and the three others laughed. Harumi sighed, and gave up.

"Fine...chicken ramen..." she mumbled. Naruto put his hand on her hair, and ruffled her hair. Harumi had to smile at her father after that. Temari, who sat on the other side of Harumi, smiled at their display of affection. It was obvious Naruto was getting the hang of all this. It was more obvious that he liked it. What made her really happy, was that Harumi had never seemed happier. It was like all of Harumi's prayers had been answered.

"*Ahem*" Naruto sounded, and she snapped out of thought. Behind Harumi, Naruto was holding his hand out for her to take. Smiling, she happily took it.

XXX-later-XXX

Naruto and Temari were lying in bed, and Harumi was fast asleep in her bed near by. Harumi would have a room as soon as possible. Naruto was, after all, one of the first Hokages to actually sleep in the Hokage's mansion. Most usually had their own homes.

"Did you have fun today?" Temari asked, snuggling into Naruto's chest. Naruto, with his arm around her, nodded.

"I did. And I'm very happy that I have that cast off. My ankle does ache a little though. Did you have fun?" Naruto responded. Temari smiled, and got closer to him.

"More than you know..." Temari answered. She reached over and grabbed Naruto's hand, holding it tight.

"I'm glad. You have seemed happier." Naruto sighed.

"I am. And Harumi is so much happier. You mind if I tell you... what she was like before coming here? Why... I needed to come when I did..." Temari asked, holding Naruto's hand tighter.

"Yeah," Naruto whispered.

"'Kay... well, after a while, she... realized she didn't have a father... at first, she would just be quiet sometimes, then she would act out. When I would hake her to play with children her won age, she would glance to their fathers. After a couple weeks, she actually hit one of her friends, and said she hated them. When I asked her why, she said, "because they get a father, and I don't..." and it was all I could do not to cry. Eventually she hardly ate. Every now and then, she would cry at night, and murmur about "where is my daddy," and things like it. That was when I knew she had to see you..." Temari whimpered. As she talked, she broke down a little at a time. After every sentence, she became more and more saddened. Naruto soon felt tears, and now she shook from her sobbing.

"Wow...but, its okay Temari," Naruto reassured, holding Temari close as he hugged her tightly. "I'm here for her now. Everything is okay."

"I know, but thinking about it makes me feel bad... I really should have brought here-"

"No." Naruto interrupted, and kissed her. "you did what you felt was right, and you shouldn't regret that."

"I know..." Temari cried. "but it is still hard..."

"And it will get easier, but it's time to sleep..." Naruto said as he kept her close, and kissed her again, which helped her calm down.

"I love you..." Temari whispered.

"I love you too."

XXX-later that night-XXX

The window opened quietly, and a figure entered the room as quietly as he had gotten into the village. Though he had killed a couple Konoha ninja on the way in, not a noise was made.

The figure quietly stepped on the ground, and made its way toward Harumi's bed. When the figure got close to the bed, they did quick hand seals and used a deep sleep jutsu on Harumi. Lifting her slowly, they held Harumi close, and placed something on the bed, and left, Harumi in arms.

XXX-the morning-XXX

"Naruto!" Temari yelled in hysterics, waking him instantly.

"What?" he yelled, scared by her tone.

"Out daughter is gone!" Temari cried, falling into Naruto's arms as she cried as a horrified look spread on his face.

**A/N: There is the chapter. Sorry it took forever, all. I've also decided that this story will be longer than the planned time, so there will probably be about 18 chapters of actual story. I found the want to write the story obviously, so expect continued updates.**

**~lord-maiku!**


	8. Harumi

Naruto Shippuden: Peace No More

XXX

A/N: this chapter will piss people off because some of your "favorite" characters return. Also, this is the mark of the start of the real plot, as the summary states, this is where peace really disappears. Well this is the chapter that really starts it. Sorry it took so long to get to it, but I wanted some... character development? I don't know... oh well, enjoy! Please review!

XXX

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Good thing, huh?

XXX

Chapter 8: Harumi

Temari got up early like she always did. Going through her normal ritual, she went down stairs. After starting the coffee, she went upstairs to take her shower, thinking Harumi was in the room with her father. She showered quickly, and got out. Going back to the room with wet hair and her night clothes still on, she walked to Harumi's bed. Seeing it was empty, she looked lazily to the bed where Naruto was sleeping, having found here there before when Temari got out of the shower. Not seeing her there, she sighed, and headed down stairs to the kitchen. That was also a place Harumi would go if she woke up early.

"Harumi, you really have to stay in-" Temari started as she went into the kitchen, but was stopped as she saw no sign of her daughter. Getting worried instantly, she proceeded to search the entire mansion. From top to bottom, she ran around getting more and more hysterical with each failed attempt. She even ran outside to check around, knowing that Harumi wouldn't go out of sight of the mansion, yet found nothing other than people looking at her strangely.

Running back in, she went to Harumi's bed, and tore the blankets off, sending the kidnap card flying through the air. Seeing it instantly, she snatched it out of the air. Opening the note instantly, she read it as fast as she could. It read:

_Hello Hokage,_

_ I have your precious daughter. No harm will come to her. While I hate repeating such a common kidnapping phrase, she will be safe if you bring me what I want._

_ I want Sasuke._

_ -Genkou_

Temari almost fainted and shouted in anger at the same time. Her daughter was with a madman who had attacked the village a little over a month and a half ago. As she stared at the note, tears began to fall from her eyes. She hated feeling so helpless, but she knew what she had to do in a situation like this.

"Naruto!" Temari yelled in hysterics, waking him instantly.

"What?" he yelled, scared by her tone.

"Out daughter is gone!" Temari cried, falling into Naruto's arms as she cried as a horrified look spread on his face. Yesterday had gone so perfectly, and now it all went to hell. His daughter was gone.

"What...," Naruto said in a quiet rage.

"It was Genkou... he left a card... he took our baby, Naruto!" Temari cried as she hugged him tightly. She was scared for her child like no one but a mother could understand.

"That...," Naruto started as his voice became a growl, "bastard!"

Naruto stood, Temari having no choice but to let him go. He was dressed in an instant, and was about to leave when Temari yelled.

"Naruto!" Temari screamed. Naruto stopped instantly, his face blackened with rage. He was on a mission to murder, but he still had to listen to her. It was her daughter too. "I'm going with. She is my daughter too, and you know I wont be able to stand by and wait."

"This is going to be dangerous. There's no way you are coming." Naruto whispered.

"I didn't ask for your permission..." Temari whimpered, still trying to calm down to keep a level head. Getting up, she changed to her ninja gear, which she hadn't worn much since having Harumi. Though she used to train when she took the time, and had been training with Sakura every now and then. It felt right to wear it. It would have been a happier moment if it wasn't for Harumi being kidnapped. "besides," she sniffed, "we should get help..."

"Temari..." Naruto sighed. He wanted to go guns blazing, but she was making him think logicly. Temari walked up to him, and hugged him from behind.

"I know you want to do this now, but Harumi doesn't need us dying. Let's get Sasuke and Sakura." Temari persuaded. Naruto stood in silence for a moment, considering what was said.

"Sakura is pregnant. She cant go..." Naruto murmured. Temari nodded, and hugged Naruto again before grabbing her battle fan.

XXX-at Sasuke's home-XXX

The walk over had been eventful. People had realized something was wrong when they didn't see Harumi with them, and saw them both ready for battle. After the discovery of the dead guards, the town was ablaze with rumors, and now they knew what happened. After half way, people left them alone, seeing them both crying as they walked.

Once they got there, the tears hadn't dried. They still flowed freely, showing the mass amount of pain they were in. every step with no little hand in both of theirs meant their daughter was gone for that much longer.

Sakura opened the door, and instantly looked horrified. She quickly scanned around them and realized what was wrong. Harumi was nowhere in sight.

"Where... where is Harumi...," Sakura whispered in shock, staring at their faces. When they both couldn't answer, tears welled up in her eyes. "I'm so sorry..."

"Hey guys." Sasuke said, walking to the door having no idea what was talked about. His eyes widened in surprise when he saw everyone upset. He then noticed the battle outfits, Everyone crying, and no Harumi in sight. In an instant, his eyes were in Mangekyō Sharingan mode, and he went right up to the door. "where's Harumi!"

"Genkou..." Naruto said in a mixed tone of upset and angry. Sasuke's face twisted in anger, and he ran to the back room. Withing a few moments, he was ready to fight also.

"Lets kill him..." Sasuke growled. "no body fucks with my friend, or his family."

"Sasuke..." Sakura whispered behind him. He didn't even have to hear what she was going to say.

"No."

"Sakura... you can't go with. You have your children to watch... you're pregnant..." Temari insisted.

"Sasuke... Naruto has always helped me... he brought you back to me after you went away... there is no way I could be happy with myself if I didn't help now. Besides, I'm barely two months in." Sakura insisted. "I'm going."

"If I let you go and something happens, I will never forgive myself..." Sasuke whispered, putting his hand on her shoulder.

"Then I'll have to make sure nothing happens. I'll be med ninja only." Sakura announced. She walked out of the room, and returned, kids in arms. Sasuke looked to Temari and Naruto for support, but they were stuck in their own little world. This was Sasuke's decision alone. "I'm dropping the kids off at Neji's and then ill be back. If you leave, expect your stuff on the lawn when you get back... and divorce papers. Naruto has always helped me no matter what, and I want to repay him."

Sasuke stood and thought as she left. While she did still train, and work at the hospital still, she was not as much of as a ninja as she used to be.

"Let's go..." Naruto whispered, not feeling as pumped as he was before. He didn't want Sakura coming with.

"Nah. We gotta wait..." Sasuke sighed. He knew she was serious about him being in big trouble if they left. She hadn't done a mission in forever, and this would be good for her.

XXX-at the gate-XXX

Naruto stood, in sage mode, by the opened gate. As he searched the area for Harumi, he picked up instantly on his daughter's Chakra, and 2 evil Chakras. While one seemed to be away from Harumi, the other one was right on top of her it seemed. 'Maybe it is behind her' Naruto thought, instantly raging at the idea that Genkou was anywhere near her.

"Lets go. I found her..." Naruto said as he started to run. The others took off with him instantly.

"How far is she, honey?" Temari asked. She had the look of terror in her eyes. He knew he couldn't tell her about the massive evil Chakra by her. That would only worry her more.

"Not that far. They wanted us to find them obviously... so they stayed close..." Naruto said with returned determination. Temari looked at him for a moment before falling back slightly.

The group, who took to the trees, lined up so Naruto was in the front, Temari following him, Sakura following her, and Sasuke bringing up the rear. As they jumped along, Sakura and Sasuke exchanged glances once in a while, worried about how quiet Naruto was being. They were used to him being a loud mouth in all situations, but knew how they would react if Itachi or their daughter, Tsune, were kidnapped. Sasuke would probably become like he once was, and Sakura would follow him down that path for the rescue alone.

As they continued, Sasuke realized where they were headed. They were going toward the old Uchiha headquarters/hide out. He scowled to think of the insult it was to the Uchiha. Mostly what it did to this brothers name, as almost every other Uchiha was an angsty bastard.

"Naruto! Do you know where this is?" Sasuke asked slightly annoyed. Naruto looked back with a look on his face that said how much he really cared.

"Where?" Sakura asked.

"The Uchiha hideout." Sasuke replied with anger in his voice. Sakura sighed, and looked at him she knew what the place meant to him. It was the place where his brother died the first time. The place where he experienced his life change in one fight.

"I'm sorry, Sasuke..." Naruto shouted back, having heard. "we will make him pay. I promise you. For your brother, and my daughter..."

When they arrived at the Uchiha hideout Sasuke had to stop and stare in awe. Sakura looked at the building and looked shocked herself. Saying she had been there once before, she knew what stunned Sasuke. The place looked new. All the damage to the building was gone.

"What...did they do?" Sasuke said so shocked and enraged he couldn't look away. Sakura put a hand on his shoulder, and Sasuke tore his eyes away. She looked at him apolitically.

"I know you felt the place was a grave for your brother the way it was, but we have something to so right now." Sakura soothed. Sasuke looked to the hideout one last time before scoffing and looking back to Naruto and Temari.

"Lets go..." Sasuke mumbled. The group of them walked toward the hideout.

The hideout was freshly clean and a lot of it looked rebuilt. No doubt their would be more fighting this time, so Sasuke could wreck the place up again while he killed Genkou. It was 2 birds with one stone. Unless Naruto got to him first...

Naruto was instantly ahead of the group as soon as he stepped foot in the hideout. Closing his eyes, he scanned the area for Harumi again. He could now sense a lot of smaller Chakras that were running around in the base. Genkou must of hired lackeys. Lots of them.

"Come on!" Naruto yelled, feeling Harumi's Chakra. He ran as fast as he could, going in the direction of the Chakra. Temari was on his heels in an instant, and Sakura and Sasuke quickly followed. Naruto turned the corner, and instantly saw a group of thugs that must have worked here. Naruto quickly created the Rasengan in his hand, forced it to become larger, and charged the workers. The thugs yelled in terror when they saw the ninja coming at them, and tried to run. Naruto was faster, and hit them with the Rasengan in the backs. The whole hideout shook as the Rasengan exploded, and Naruto knew the people he hit were probably dead. Not seeming to care, he took off. Temari, Sasuke, and Sakura followed with a sense of bewilderment. Naruto was pissed enough to let them see a side of him they never thought they would see again.

XXX-further in the hideout-XXX

"It seems our guests have arrived... " Genkou spoke as he stood from his seat and looked toward Sanno and Geist. The two looked over quickly, and nodded. "i want Sasuke here. Naruto's daughter is of little concern at this point. Sanno greet them, and send Sasuke here. Geist, go to Harumi. Naruto and Temari will be there soon."

"Fine, but I want actual paying missions after this..." Sanno said as he walked off, putting on his pocketed trench coat on. Geist stood, and walked eagerly out of the room, waving to his friend as he left.

"Bye, Uchi!" Geist said excitedly as he left.

XXX-with Naruto and the others-XXX

"RAAAAH" Naruto yelled as he attacked more thugs with his Rasengan attack. As a wall exploded, Naruto threw a Rasenshuriken into the room, and hit the person closest to the center, catching the rest of the people in the room as it expanded. Shifting his attention in front of him, he noticed Sanno as he was about to run ahead. He stared in rage ahead of him, and the others approached. This time, it was Temari's turn to attack. Rushing in front of Naruto, she swung her fan. A visible gust of wind shot at Sanno. Sanno quickly shot a fire ball at them, which absorbed the wind jutsu. Sasuke jumped ahead, and Susanoo appeared around Sasuke. Susanoo lowered its shield over them, and blocked the attack. As Sasuke stared a Sanno, Sanno smiled as he walked calmly toward them.

"Sasuke... Genkou would like to see you. The others may run along and find Harumi, but you have to come with me." Sanno said as he got up to Susanoo's shield. Sasuke looked at Sanno with a board expression, and looked back to Naruto.

"What do you think? We could probably kill him." Sasuke spoke as he nodded toward Sanno.

"Go. We will be there the second we get Harumi. Don't kill that bastard, Genkou, until we get there." Naruto said as he ran past Sanno and Sasuke. Temari followed quickly after him, but Sakura stayed.

"Sakura. go. Without back up, there would be no way you could help me." Sasuke demanded.

"I'm staying with you." Sakura insisted. She took her gloves out and put them on.

"You said you were going to be a medic only." Sasuke reminded. Sakura looked at him and smiled.

"Plans change." Sakura informed as Sasuke let Susanoo disappear. Sasuke looked at her with annoyance, but turned and motioned for Sanno to lead. Sanno bowed in an insulting fashion, and started to lead them toward Genkou.

XXX-near Harumi-XXX

Naruto broke the door down, and saw Geist standing by the little bed in a jail cell they had Harumi in. the second Geist noticed them, he was out of the cell, with the door locked. He smiled at them innocently as Naruto and Temari looked angerly at him.

"I was just looking! You guys have such a cute daughter!" Geist said childishly. He smiled brightly, though Naruto and Temari looked furious. "though its such a shame..." he whispered as his voice stated to deepen. " that she had to be in the room when her parents died..."

Naruto and Temari instantly looked enraged. The idea of them dying and leaving their daughter to this man was infuriating. Naruto instantly ran at Geist, and swung his fist at him. Geist dodged, and grabbed Naruto's arm. Quickly taking his weighted trench coat off, he let go of Naruto's arm and punched Naruto in the stomach. Dropping to his knees, Naruto gripped his stomach as Temari jumped over him, and jabbed at Geist with her metal fan. Geist dodged again, and grabbed her ankle, making her fall on Naruto.

"Gotta be faster." Geist taunted. He threw Temari against the wall and went for Naruto. "you know, I just figured out what I will do with your daughter. She will join our group, and we will tell her we killed the ones who killed her parents." Geist said in his childish voice. Naruto's rage washed over his face in an instantly. Grabbing Geist's undershirt, he headbutted him. Geist dropped Naruto, and staggered back a bit, looking shocked. Naruto crawled toward Temari, who was gasping for air having been hit hard enough in the back.

"We gotta get him out of here. I have a plan..." Naruto whispered, and made the shadow clone hand seal. In an instant, the room was filled with 12 Temaris', all with fans on their back, and exactly identical. Each Temari stood slowly, Naruto acting the part perfectly. All of them ran at Geist, and grabbed onto him. Geist, never experiencing a shadow clone before, froze in shock that the clones could actually grab him. Most of the Temari's threw Geist toward the door, and the others appeared to swing their fans, only one of them being the real Temari. The real wind gust shoots Geist further out the door, and the ones the threw Geist ran to the jail cell, trying to open it with force. As 3 Temari's ran out the door, the others transformed back to Naruto, and forced the cell open. Looking back to Temari and the clones, the real Naruto knew he couldn't stay with his daughter. Hi dismissed the clones, ran into the cell, kissed his daughters cheek, and left.

In the hall, Temari and the 2 cloned Naruto had made stared down Geist as he stood slowly. 'I cant use my scythe weasel Jutsus, or I may end up cutting through the wall and hurting Harumi...' Temari thought as she readied her fan for fighting. The clones to either side followed suit, and did the same. Temari pulled her fan back to attack again, and the clones did so at the same time. All three swung their fan, and Temari used her **dust wind jutsu**. Before the dust hit Geist's eyes, he noticed the difference between them. Temari's fans' moons would appear and disappear according to the strength of the attack. The clones had no moons on their fans.

The dust from the jutsu hit him, blinding him instantly. "my eyes!" Geist yelled in pain as he was pushed back from the strength of the dust storm.

"If we would have been in the desert, you would have been permanently blinded by that attack. Lucky for you." Temari grumbled angerly.

"That was mean..." Geist whispered, trying to rub the dust from his eyes.

"You guys took my daughter... I can be as mean as I want..."one of the clones said that time.

"RASENGAN!" Naruto yelled as he flew out of the room where Harumi was. Geist, who was blind, could do little to move out of the way. Getting hit in his lower back, he flew forward and skidded across the ground. Naruto walked to the door and closed it, then turned back to Temari. Turning into a copy of Temari, he winked, and stood by her.

Geist sat up slowly, and coughed up blood into his hand. "bastards..." he said weakly. He could see now, but his back and chest hurt a lot. Now there were 4 Temaris'. He still knew how to find the clones, but he wouldn't be able to run at full speed for more than a minute at a time now. He needed medical attention.

With Geist moved away from the door where Harumi was, Temari could use real attacks now. Pulling her fan back, with the clones and Naruto mirroring, she pumped Chakra into her fan. As the moons changed on her fan, Geist was able to pick her out.

"Great Scythe Weasel Jutsu!" they yelled, and swung their fans. As the Chakra pumped fans swung, Geist took off. He dashed at them, somehow dodging the pressurized air blades, and punched one of the fakes. Upon the punch, the fake poofed away in a cloud of smoke. It was a shadow clone. He did a quick round house kick, and kicked Temari into the other clone, and punched the other Temari by him. That Temari flew back, bounded off the wall, and changed back to Naruto in a puff of smoke. As he bounded back toward Geist, he received an uppercut punch to his jaw, and a kick to his side, sending him through the stone wall to the room with Harumi. As he flew in, he hit the bars on the door, and knocked the door off. Outside, Temari landed on the clone, and it poofed away. After she landed on the ground, she slowly sat up. Looking up, she saw Geist cough up more blood. As she started to get up, Geist seemed to regain his strength. Using his speed again, he dashed at Temari. He grabbed her top pig tails, and lifted her by them. He kneed her in the stomach, and threw her into the ground.

"Your daughter will make a great addition to the team. After you die, Uchi-kun will raise her., you know. And she will help us on our missions, and do what ever we want." Geist smiled, before coughing again. "but now, ill have some fun with you while your boyfriend is out..."

XXX-in the cell-XXX

Naruto sat up slowly, in pain from the vicious attack. Looking to Harumi, he ran a hand through her hair. As she slept, Naruto noticed her shaking slightly, as if she were afraid.

"H-honey...?" Naruto whispered weakly as he moved toward her and picked her up slowly. "I'm here for you... it's Ok..." as Naruto whispered to her, she wrapped her arms around his neck in her sleep. And Naruto held her closer for a moment before he would have to go back out to finish his fight.

XXX-inside Harumi's mind-XXX

Harumi was sitting inside of the Hokage's mansion, which now seemed to resemble a large doll house. The furniture and things looked like they were cheaply made, and sewn together with yarn. The wood in the room looked enlarged and grainy. The sun that poured into the room appeared to be from a false light. Harumi laid on the bed for a moment, before finally sitting up and looking around. After taking in her surroundings, she look to the window. Squinting her eyes to try and get a good look out the window, she realized there was a giant eye looking into the room.

"Daddy!" Harumi screamed in terror, falling from the bed. "mommy!" she cried as she got up, holding her head that now throbbed. As she ran from the room and went down the stairs, every window she passed at first looked normal, but the eye followed her. No matter where, the eye followed if it could. As she ran down, she felt more and more compelled to run out the door. Though she knew it was a terrible idea, and that something was outside, and following her, she felt as though her body was being pulled by an invisible hand. "no!" she cried as tears fell down her face, and terror went through her like it was propelled by her own heart. "stop!" she screamed as her hand grabbed the door knob to the only door separating her from whatever was outside. As the door creaked open, hell's own heat poured in through the door, and the light from the outside became dark orange. A creeping feeling of disparity and hate followed the heat and light, and she felt herself unable to stop herself from opening the door all the way.

Outside of the mansion, the doll house version of the leaf village was burnt and destroyed. Yarn doll bodies without their heads were piled up and lit aflame. The air was thick with an unknown smell to Harumi, which she would some day learn to be the smell of burning flesh. The sky was dark with clouds that made the sky look like it was bloody. Harumi could only stare in absolute terror to see the place she now called home completely destroyed and aflame.

Out of the corner of her eyes, she caught the movement of something absolutely massive in size. Reflexively, she looked.

In front of her was a massive foxes head. An orange fox with red eyes. The same eyes she saw in the mansion. The fox seemed to smile as he came out the rest of the way from the side of the mansion. The orange fox was the thing radiating the terrible feelings she felt inside her, and felt as though she was being strangled by the mere essence of the fox. Looking closer at it, she realized that what she thought were flames behind it, were actually nine tails flowing.

"I** see you decided to join me...**" the fox grinned at her as he spoke. To Harumi, its voice made her whimper with pain she had only sampled, when seeing other people with their fathers. When wondering why hers was never around. She felt hate. She felt pain. All flowing out of the creatures mouth like a river of pain.

"Get away!" Harumi cried. As she tried to run away, the fox slammed a paw down in her path. The force shook the earth, and made Harumi fall on her face. Slowly getting up, she sobbed harder than she ever had before. "mommy... daddy..." she cried, beginning to feel like she would never see them again. The feeling of abandonment over took her instantly, and she fell back to the ground and cried.

"T**hat's no way to say hello to your father's old friend.**" the fox smirked hatefully. Raising his paw, he used a claw to turn Harumi over. Powerless, Harumi could do nothing but be a simple doll to the fox. "**listen... your father is here. With you. The real you... now wake up... I want to...say hello...**"

Even though her heart was filled with pain and terror, she suddenly felt like she was floating. In the sky, a hole opened in the clouds, and a bright white light shined down on Harumi. As she actually started to lift up, the fox grabbed her. The hole in the sky widened, the feeling of sadness returned, and the fox went with her through the clouds.

XXX-with Naruto-XXX

Harumi's eyes shot open. Her eyes the green eyes that reminded Naruto of her mothers, but red. Just like the foxes. Naruto, however, couldn't see them. He was still in the middle of hugging his daughter before going back out to fight. He didn't see her open her mouth to talk. He didn't feel the hate that radiated from her, because he just figured Sasuke and Genkou were fighting, and he felt it.

"Father..." Harumi whispered in a dark voice unlike her own. Naruto tried to pull her back in happiness, but Harumi's arms around his neck provided such an intense resistance that he couldn't. "someone would like to say hello..."

Harumi turned her head slightly, and sunk her teeth into her father's neck. Naruto screamed in pain as her teeth entered, and yelled louder when he felt an intense Chakra enter into his body. He felt years of quiet hatred unleash in him, and a void fill that was empty for only 2 3/4th years empty.

XXX-in Naruto's mind-XXX

Naruto opened his eyes. He knew he was in his mind. He had been there more times than he could remember. It was as he last left it. Glowing white, and completely barren of anything. As he stared into the distance, he began to see the edges of his vision turning red. When he turned to look at it however, the red didn't move. Something behind him did however.

Turning quickly, he saw the fox. It was calmly sitting behind him with a hideously sinister grin. Naruto's expression changed to that of surprise and shock, and he moved away quickly.

"Hello, Naruto. Did you miss me?" the fox asked with as he lowered his head.

"W-what the hell?" he stammered. Not knowing what to think, he stood slowly, never breaking eye contact with the fox.

"I** was hiding... in your daughter... would you like to hear about it?" the fox questioned as he stood on all fours, looking like he was going to move. "when you reproduced with that harlot from the sand village, I took that as my opportunity to put a small piece of myself into the unborn children you spit into that woman, and with my aid, I was able to insure there was an offspring, that would only develop after some time. You see, I knew you were far too reckless. I knew you would end up killing us some how, and knew that if I wanted to live, I would have to prepare a host for myself. Imagine my surprise of waking up, and not only finding you still alive, but without a trace of my Chakra within you. I wondered, what happened? Well, I will find out soon enough... like when I take over your body..**." the fox whispered in pure hatred. He started to move toward Naruto, and Naruto instantly bit his thumb, made symbols on his hands, and preformed quick hand seals. He hadn't planned on using this jutsu for this exact situation, but looking over his father's notes, he was able to create a powerful sealing jutsu. He had always envisioned using it on an enemy, but this seemed to be exactly what he needed it for.

Hitting the ground, bars shot up, and captured the fox within them on one side. As the fox cursed, and backed up, another set of bars came up. When he tried to go left, bars came up. The same happened when he tried to go right. And the same when he tried to go up.

"I don't care how you did it..." Naruto began. He held out his open palm out, and closed his hand into a tight fist, making the bars constrict around the fox tightly. The fox screamed when a surprising amount of pressure was applied, which hurt him greatly. Naruto walked toward the cage, still holding his fist closed tightly, this time in rage. "Temari is not a harlot...and if you ever call her that, than...you die..."

The fox looked at him with intense focus and he debated what he could do. He grinned when he realized he could do nothing, and he laughed lightly.

"I will be quiet for now. But sooner or later you will have to deal with me..." the fox laughed.

"I did once, and I will again if I have to..." Naruto said, and turned away, returning to his real body.

XXX-in the real world-XXX

Naruto raised his head slowly, looking to a now unconscious Harumi. Kissing her cheek lightly, he kissed her and put her down slowly. After the fight, he would be able to use his father's thunder god jutsu to bring her home. For now, he had to help Temari fight the man outside.

"Maybe I can use his Chakra again..." Naruto wondered aloud. He quickly calmed himself, and put himself into his minds world once again. This time, he stood in front of the fox, who was still trapped. "damn! Does this mean I have to steal your Chicory all over again?"

**"What do you mean, all over again? I doubt you could ever-**" the fox started to gloat, but was stopped when the memories came flooding back. The "room" shook as the memories were forcefully placed back into the foxes head. In a daze, the fox was unable to speak for a moment, and Naruto momentarily lowered the cage from around him. Taking the opportunity to act, he jumped at the fox, and began to pull at the foxes Chakra. Though he felt bad doing it like this, he had little choice but to do it quickly. Ripping the Chakra fully from the fox, another cage emerged, and trapped the fox tightly.

"I'm sorry... but right now I really need this... ill fight you another time, but even now... I'm sure you have a lot to think about..." Naruto said just loud enough for the dazed fox to hear. He looked back with an apologetic look in his eyes, and disappeared.

Opening his eyes, Naruto stood up. He looked at his hands with a look of shock. The shroud of the nine-tails Chakra covered him once again. He felt power flow through him like he had felt so long ago. He couldn't dwell on this though.

Outside the room, Geist was staring at Temari, who had just taken quite a beating. At the moment, she was struggling to stand up.

"Not giving up?" Geist asked, smiling. He walked toward her, and picked her up by he arm in a sudden motion. "i have to end this so I can help my friends..."

"Let her go!" Naruto screamed behind him. He looked over his shoulder to Naruto. The look of boredom disappeared quickly, being able to visibly see the Chakra coming off of Naruto now. Out of Naruto's body came arms of Chakra, each with their own Rasengan. Geist dropped Temari in shock, and turned to look at him.

'I just gotta use my speed...' Geist thought as he got ready for an attack. He stared at Naruto for a moment, before Naruto suddenly disappeared. Jumping back instinctively, one of the Chakra arms just barely missed Geist's head. Another came at him from above, and he pressed himself to the wall to avoid it as best as possible, getting Chakra burn from the jutsu coming close. Another arm went for him against from the wall, forcing him to duck. The last came at him on the ground, and he jumped back to avoid it. Standing now, and facing Naruto, he saw the arms creating the **Rasenshuriken** above Naruto. As Naruto went for Geist again, Geist tried to dodge. His injuries caught up with him again, making him stop and cough up blood.

"Die!" Naruto yelled as the arms shoved the Rasenshuriken into his chest, which instantly sliced Geist in half, then expanded slightly as it exploded. Naruto used his heavily upgraded speed, and grabbed Temari and moved her by Harumi, and shielded them from debris.

"Did...you get him?" Temari asked quietly. She had a lot of bruises, but nothing that couldn't be healed.

"Yeah. I'm going to take you and Harumi back to the leaf, then come back here to finish this..." Naruto said as he marked the ground with a thunder god seal.

"Be careful...and," Temari started, touching his arm and looking at his form, "we obviously have a lot to talk about..."

In an instant, Naruto, Temari, and Harumi were gone.

XXX-with Sasuke-XXX

The three ninja walked into the biggest room to the hideout, which was the training room. Sasuke was familiar with the room, but only from being in it once or twice before. In the center of the room stood Genkou, who turned to look at the three ninja, and focus on Sasuke with a burning intensity. Sasuke instantly did the same.

"Sakura, go find Naruto and see if he needs healing. Leave these two to me..." Sasuke ordered. When he heard no walking, he looked at her. Looking defiantly at him, she smirked.

"I told you, I'm helping. There is no way they are going to fight fair. I can at least help." Sakura insisted. "I've always stood by, and watched as others fought. I'm helping this time."

"You're pregnant though..." Sasuke mumbled angerly.

"Which is why I'm not going to get hurt."

"Enough," Genkou called to them, as Sanno walked over by him. "of this lovers fight. If she wants to fight, let her. I don't care at all..."

Genkou activated his Mangekyō Sharingan, and Susanoo appeared around him, which was purple in color. Sanno, who backed away from Genkou, started preforming hand seals. As a dragons head appeared out of the ground, Sasuke activated his Mangekyō, and Susanoo appeared with his shield ready. The dragon turned it's head to the ceiling, and fired its lava bullets. Sasuke reacted quickly as the ceiling started to collapse on to them, as Susanoo quickly raised its shield above them. Leaving the body open, Genkou attacked them with Susanoo's sword. Reacting quickly, Sasuke focused his Chakra into his left eye, and used Amaterasu. The jutsu hit Genkou's jutsu sword, and spread along the whole body of his Susanoo.

"Dammit..." Genkou sounded, having to dismiss his Susanoo quickly, and jumped back as the fire fell to the ground. Sanno had done the same, and looked at Sasuke's Susanoo for a possible weak point. Anywhere without the shield was open to attacks.

"I'll get the other one!" Sakura yelled as she ran out of Susanoo's protection.

"No, wait!" Sasuke yelled. As he tried to stop her. As he reached out for her, he heard the sound of birds chirping. Looking just in time, he grabbed the Chidori powered hand of Genkou, which was aimed for his face.

"You have a fight right here to worry about!" Genkou screamed. He punched Sasuke in the side, and shoved him back. Sasuke instantly retaliated by attacking with Susanoo's sword, which Genkou evaded by jumping to the side, then back a bit.

"You have never seen my eternal Mangekyō Sharingan power, have you?" Sasuke smiled. Genkou looked at him with a glare, than smiled.

"It's probably like mine..." Genkou answered.

"My eyes are my brother's eyes. My powers are different because of by eyes.. I'll just let you see for yourself..." Sasuke laughed. 'I have to hurry so I can help Sakura...' Sasuke thought.

Sasuke quickly activated his eternal Mangekyō Sharingan. Genkou tensed up as he anticipated an instant attack. As nothing happened, Genkou relaxed his guard for a moment. Suddenly a loud boom of thunder clapped. Genkou quickly looked up to see an absolutely black clouds hanging over the hideout.

"What the-" Genkou got cut off.

"Tentou Raikou (heaven lightning)" Sasuke yelled. Genkou felt a crushing pressure over him suddenly. Knowing that pressure built up where lightning would strike, he jumped as fast as he could to the left. Black lightning flew down from the sky, and hit Genkou in the arm, slicing into half of his arm. Genkou screamed in pain, and fell to the ground. "you were lucky. I've only used that jutsu three other times. I call it Tentou Raikou because it is the lighting Itachi sends to my aid from heaven. Sweet, isn't it?"

Sakura flew through the air at Sanno, and threw a punch at his face. Sanno ducked quickly, and rolled away from her as she hit the ground behind him, which shattered it into large chunks of rock. To Sakura, this was just like old times. She missed punching things.

"Gotta watch out for that punch..." Sanno murmured. He did a few hand seals, and activated his lava control jutsu. As lava jumped up from the shattered remains where Sakura punched, it formed into a dragon. As the dragon shot for Sakura, she jumped around, dodging the heated dragon. Flying at Sanno once again, she kicked at him. Having no time to move, as he didn't expect her to attack while dodging the dragon, she connected the kick. Sanno flew off as his dragon disappeared.

"Gotcha'!" Sakura yelled in victory.

"Gotta watch that kick too..." Sanno murmured. She was apparently only good at Taijutsu, so if he kept his distance, he could win. Quickly creating hand seals, he put his newly formed plan into action. "fireball jutsu!" he yelled as a ploy. After the fireball flew off, he created more hand seals. All he had to do was wait a split second.

Sakura saw the fire ball and instantly jumped up. Raising her leg into the air, she was going to deliver the heel kick that would pound him into the ground. That's when she noticed him finishing hand seals, and a dragon's head appearing out of the ground. She saw Sanno smirk as lava bullets flew from the creatures mouth.

"SASUKE!" Sakura yelled, right before the bullets hit. Sasuke whipped his head over to see the bullets going right for her. He moved as fast as he could, and extended Susanoo's sword to block her, but they were too far to get to in time. Sakura was hit by the deadly attack as she tried to block herself, and Sasuke could only watch. He saw multiple bullets hit his wife. Some grazed, some hit limbs, and others did worse.

"SAKURAAAAAAAA!" Sasuke yelled violently, dropping his Jutsus and catching Sakura before she hit the ground. She had been pierced through the body several times. Sasuke stared in horror as she laid in his arms, dying.

"Sasuke..." Sakura mumbled, and coughed up blood. "don't... be mad..."

"Sakura..." Sasuke whispered, looking scared for the second time in his life. The first being the eradication of his clan. "don't..."

"Please... the kids..." Sakura cried as she shook slightly. She was getting cold. She was losing a lot of blood, and could barely breath. The lava bullets had done too much damage.

"Sakura..." Sasuke said as he started to cry. He then realized there was no way she would live. He was soaked in blood after only half a minute. She was cold to the touch. "they... will be fine..."

"And... please... don't be alone... ill ***cough* let** you love again..." she whispered, and smiled. Sasuke held her hand tightly. "i love...you..."

"I love you too." he cried, and kissed her lips, with her returning it, weakly, for the last time. When she died, he laid her on the ground slowly, and stood just as slow. The feeling in the room changed instantly. Hate filled the room like it was a scent.

"How cute. I'm so happy we got to see that." Genkou said, having finished tending to his wound. His arm was wrapped and in a splint. Sanno just administered a pain killer, and they were ready for whatever. They thought.

Susanoo erupted from Sasuke, and now it was different. Instead of the orange color it once had, it was purple once again. His evil Chakra was back.

"I'll kill you..." Sasuke mumbled. "ill KILL YOU!" he roared in anger. Turning quickly, he unleashed his Tentou Raikou, which they tried to move from, but it sliced Sanno's leg clean from his body at his pelvis. Sanno screamed in pain as he went one way, and his leg flew the other way. Genkou looked shocked at Sanno. Sanno hadn't moved quick enough, but only got his leg taken. That meant Sasuke was aiming to only take the leg.

"Genkou!" Sanno yelled as he gripped the bloody spot that used to have his leg attached to it. Genkou looked momentarily at Sanno, then back to Sasuke. Sanno would be dead soon anyway.

"You are trash..." Sasuke insulted when he saw that Genkou actually ignored his team mate basically. Sasuke walked toward Sanno, using Amaterasu to keep Genkou off by creating a line of it too big to jump. Walking to Sanno, he looked dead into Sanno's eyes and stared for a moment. "i wanted one last look at the man who killed my wife. I want to be the last thing you see..." Sasuke said, using his Sharingan's ability to keep him staring at him while he used Tentou Raikou to make Sanno's head explode. The last thing Sanno saw was a slight smile appear on Sasuke's face. Sasuke's last image of Sanno's face was the utter look of terror before lightning hit him.

Sasuke instantly turned, and killed the flames of Amaterasu using his Sharingan. Though it did exhaust some of his Chakra, he wanted to deal with Sanno by himself. With absolutely no interference. Now it was just Sasuke and Genkou. What Genkou thought he wanted all along. Now, he knew he couldn't win. Not even if he somehow used his eternal Mangekyō Sharingan.

"Sasuke!" a voice yelled from the entrance to the room. Sasuke didn't bother to look over. He knew who was there. Genkou looked instantly, however, and that gave Sasuke a moment to start hand seals. Yet when Genkou looked in a sudden state of panic, Sasuke had to see.

Naruto stood in the entrance to the room with the foxes Chakra shroud covering him. At first, Sasuke thought it was an illusion, but he could feel the Chakra radiating off of him. Naruto had the nine-tails?

"Is that..." Genkou started in bewilderment.

"The foxes shroud? Yeah..." Sasuke said in return. He had to smile. There was absolutely no way Genkou could win now.

"I thought I sensed something odd about the little girl..." Genkou whispered as he stood. "i have no idea how you got that, but I obviously cannot win..."

"You're damn right! Now I'm gonna make you pay for taking Harumi!" Naruto yelled. Sasuke looked over his shoulder to Sakura's lifeless body, and decided he needed to deal with that. Naruto could fight if he wanted to. Sasuke just wanted... he didn't know what he wanted. To go home...

"His friend killed Sakura..." Sasuke murmured. A look of panic and terror flashed onto Naruto's face, and he quickly looked around the room. He spotted her body quickly. Naruto hung his head down as his anger welled up inside of him in an instant, and was about to explode. As Genkou stood, and jumped to the wall, he blew a portion of it up, creating a nice escape route.

"WAIT!" Naruto yelled, and moved to stop him.

"Naruto..." Sasuke whispered just loud enough for Naruto to hear. Naruto looked over at him, and instantly stopped. Tears fell down Sasuke's face. He shook as he sobbed. Though he was disobeying one of the key shinobi rules, he didn't care. "i just want to go..."

Naruto looked at Genkou, thinking how he could kill him quickly, but decided his friend needed him more. A lot more.

"We will see each other again... I cannot wait..." Genkou said, smiling. He then poofed away. Genkou was gone.

Sasuke and Naruto both walked to Sakura's body, and stood in silence, apart from Sasuke's sobbing. As Naruto looked at Sakura's pale face, Sasuke knelt down, and took her hand.

"I'm so sorry..." Naruto said, his voice full of pain.

"Am I just meant to be unhappy?" Sasuke questioned. Naruto looked at him remorsefully, not knowing what to say to his life-long friend. "am I meant to always be mad at the world?"

Naruto put a hand on his friend's shoulder. At first it was gentle, but then Naruto grabbed some of Sasuke's shirt, and pulled Sasuke to his feet. Sasuke looked at his friend with surprise in his eyes. He looked even more shocked after Naruto hit Sasuke in the face.

"Don't talk like that!" Naruto yelled. "Sakura wouldn't want you to hate the world! She never wanted you to be unhappy! You have two kids you have to take care of, and they need a father now more than ever!" Naruto screamed at his friend, who looked emotionless the whole time. "I'm sorry this happened, but you have things that need to be taken care of right now!"

"Naruto... can we bury her here... now?" Sasuke asked. Naruto looked shocked at the question. He looked to Sakura, and nodded. "she died an Uchiha and deserves a Uchiha burial..."

"Alright..." Naruto said, and had Sasuke lead the way.

Sasuke carried Sakura's body through the hideout, and though Naruto had to clear out the place of the remaining help that Genkou had hired, the trip went fast. Outside, there was a small grave yard. Sasuke picked an empty area, and laid her body down. Getting down on the ground, Sasuke started to dig into the ground with his bare hands. Though he could have used jutsu to do it, he wanted to do it like this.

"Hold on, Sasuke... I'll be back..." Naruto whispered, and disappeared. Sasuke kept digging, wanting to do this as fast as possible. Yet after a few moments, he stopped. His hands were tired, and his fingers hurt. Naruto reappeared with their former teacher, though.

Kakashi looked to Sakura's dead body first, and back at Naruto. He knelt by Sasuke, and hugged him. Sasuke looked shocked, having always felt that Kakashi only wanted a prodigy, not a friend, until now. "I'm so sorry, Sasuke..." Kakashi whispered. Naruto felt himself start to cry, being unable to hold back any longer. His first crush, one of his closest friends, was dead.

Naruto took out a kunai, and started using it to help Sasuke dig the grave. Kakashi started doing the same, and even gave Sasuke a kunai, seeing his hands red and sore. After a while, the three had dug a deep enough grave. Kakashi and Naruto moved a large stone they found to the area, and sat it down. As Sasuke put her body into the grave gently, Naruto and Kakashi stood quietly, and prayed. Naruto never felt like a religious person, but he wanted to feel like he was doing something. As Naruto and Kakashi pushed the dirt back, allowing Sasuke to throw the first handful in, Sasuke engraved on the stone.

Standing over the grave, the three stood in silence, and looked at the stone. Kakashi looked at the two, and decided to be the first to speak. Sasuke probably wanted a moment to himself later.

"You were the smartest students I've ever had. I'm happy I was able to be your teacher, and I hope you watch over us in the afterlife..." Kakashi said, and put one hand to his mask, and the other to his head band. He pulled both off, and stood before them. "I'm sorry you never saw my real face while you were alive. I know you wanted to so bad... I promise not to hide myself from people so much any more though... I'm glad you were one of my first students, and I'm sorry I wasn't the best teacher..."

By now, both Naruto and Sasuke were sobbing, not even caring to stare at Kakashi's face like they had wanted to at one point. All they could think of, was how much this sucked.

As Naruto started to speak, Kakashi started to cry. "i will never regret helping you so much over the years... it meant so much to me that you would ask for my help, and I will always cherish the time we shared... Temari and I will help with your kids. We both know Sasuke will train them too early otherwise... I'll miss you..." Naruto whispered, his voice cracking with emotion. As he stepped back, Kakashi grabbed Naruto's shoulder, and motioned that they should move away. After they were gone, Sasuke knelt to the ground, and began to cry loudly. Naruto and Kakashi couldn't look at each other with the fear of doing the same, or more so than they already were.

"I won't let my hate consume me... I'll avenge your death, more than I already have, but I know the kids come first... they are going to miss you so much... and I'm so sorry I left years ago... I'll always regret leaving and not spending as much time with you as possible... god, I'm sorry..." Sasuke sobbed as he talked. He couldn't believe this was happening. "I'll visit you here every week, and be buried here next to you when I die. I'll do whatever I can in your memory. I love you so much, Sakura Uchiha..." Sasuke cried. Unable to think of anything else to say right now, he stood slowly. After a few minutes of looking at her grave, he walked back to the remains of team 7. he walked to them, and unlike his usual self, he hugged them both, shocking them, and making them feel like he would accept their help.

"Next time, can we have a normal reunion...?" Kakashi asked, causing them to smirk, even through the pain they had in their hearts.

"Can we...go... I have a lot I need to take care of..." Sasuke asked, sounding upset, yet trying to be strong. Kakashi and Naruto looked to him, and nodded solemnly.

XXX

A/N: Sorry for the slightly sad chapter. Also, sorry about re-introducing "Genkou and friends." I'm sure there were a lot of you who were not happy about them. Sadly, Genkou is going to show up quite a bit. I also need some other villains. I would love some ideas, if anyone is willing. I hope you all enjoyed the chapter. Sorry if the Sakura thing happened too quickly, but there will be more in the next chapter. Please review, so I know what you all thought. Again, I know my grammar sucks, so attack anything else if you are going to. Thank you all for being so patient.

~lord-maiku!


	9. The Big Number 5

Naruto Shippuden: Peace No More

XXX

**A/N: Sorry, but this isn't going to be a big chapter. I got something saying Sasuke was acting out of character, but remember, Naruto has saved Sasuke from the darkness of his heart. So with that in mind, Sasuke is acting exactly like I think he could. I know a lot of you out there are Sasuke haters, but you gotta at least feel a little sorry for the guy. He has had a shitty life. Oh well. Enjoy the chapter. Please review!**

XXX

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

XXX

Chapter 9: The Big Number 5

Genkou had made it. He stood at the gates of the hidden village in the land of lightning. This was one place he was sure he could get back up. Normally, he stayed away from all villages, but he had a big piece of information that might piss the right people off, and do the right kind of damage. It had taken him five days to get there, though he had to take a lot of rest stops due to being exhausted, injured, and it didn't help being "born" with a body that was faulty. As he approached the gates, he was stopped by Kumo-guards.

"What business do you have here?" one guard demanded. He had a headband on, which pegged him as a ninja. The other guard looked more like a samurai, yet he did have a headband.

"I'm here to talk to your Raikage. I have important news that is very unfortunate." Genkou said, sounding pathetic to give the guards a false sense of power.

"On the grounds of?"

"The leaf village. War."

Genkou was instantly led to the Raikage's office. While the guards were told no more, they did handcuff the Merc-nin. Behind the desk, A sat doing his paper work.

"My lord, this man was found trying to get into the village. He says he brings war bound news." the same guard who spoke before said. 'he must love to hear his own voice...'

"War? Is this a threat?" A yelled as he stood up quickly. Genkou shook his head.

"I told them to let me speak for myself..." Genkou murmured. A slammed a fist down on his desk, and shouted again

"Then speak! I don't like hearing about war when things are supposed to be peaceful!"

"This is news for your ears alone. After you hear it, you can tell whoever you want."

"Bastard... we could just torture you..."the guard said suddenly.

"Enough! Leave us. I'll speak to this brave soul..."

The guards grunted, and walked from the room to go back to their posts. A sat down again, and he waved to a seat in front of his desk. Genkou bowed, and took a seat.

"Sir, I believe you may want to sound proof the room..."

"You seem to like sounding like you are making threats..."

"I assure you, I mean no harm."

A sealed the room, feeling that what his prisoner was looking for was death.

"What do you know, mister..."

"My name, which will shock you, is Genkou...Uchiha."

A laughed loudly, which seemed to echo in the sealed room. Clearly, he didn't believe him. But he could change that.

"Uchiha. That's funny. You are stupid, and funny. Now tell me this news, or I will kill you for making fun of my entire village for all that you have done."

"The Hokage had the nine-tails in him."

A looked at Genkou, rage building in his eyes. A didn't believe him, he was angry that anyone thought they could try to lie like this. As Genkou saw A's rage, he closed his eyes, opening them almost instantly to show A the Sharingan he claimed to have. A's anger died down a bit, but he was still being stubborn.

"I was in a fight with the Hokage, not a week ago, and he was using the nine-tails Chakra."

"You do realize what you are actually suggesting to me is that the Hokage has lied to me for three years. My brother when died when Madara took the tailed beast he held, and Naruto lived somehow. Now, you expect me to believe that he has had it all along?"

'I hadn't thought of that... that would be a way for A to explain how Naruto lived for himself...' Genkou though for a moment. "that is exactly it. Having heard your story, I can't believe he has lied to you. I thought the five Kage's were supposed to have become peaceful, but lying doesn't sound peaceful to me."

"Indeed it doesn't...tell me. Could you use a transformation jutsu to show me what you think the nine-tails Chakra looked like... as you saw it I mean."

'He still doesn't believe me...' Genkou thought, frustrated. "yes, my lord."

Genkou stood, and preformed a hand seal, and transformed into exactly what Naruto had looked like in the nine-tails mode. A sat silently for a moment, and slowly stood. Grabbing his desk, he brought his arms together, and snapped his desk in half.

"That traitor!" A screamed in full rage. He began smashing things in his room, and punched holes in the walls. He was going berserk. "my brother died and he had the gall to lie to me!"

"It appears so. The question is, what will you do?"

"Don't think you can point me in a direction. I am going to talk with my consul, and we will determine the best course of action."

"I thought you would want to demand action right away. The question is, do you want me here, or may I leave and deliver this information to other villages?"

"You stay here. You can leave when we decide a course of action."

"As you command."

XXX-Two weeks later; in the leaf village-XXX

Naruto was sitting at his desk doing his own paper work. As he worked, Harumi sat on his desk, singing to herself. Temari was out shopping, and probably hanging with some of her leaf village friends. She needed them just as much as they needed her. With Sakura gone, which was still taking an effect on the village, Temari lost a dear friend. Sasuke had been locked up in his house since the day it happened, and Naruto had been unable to see him due to work.

"I think I'm going to go see Sasuke after I finish work. Would you like to come with honey?" Naruto asked, seeing no way around bringing her. Harumi could try and occupy Sasuke's kids while the two talked.

"No... I think I'm going to stay." Harumi mumbled. Naruto looked shocked at her. She always wanted to see the kids, but since Sakura died, she didn't want to go over there.

"Why not honey?"

"What if they blame me..."

Naruto had to pause. That was surprising from a three and a half year old. Maybe it was simple to her, but Naruto hadn't thought that it could be the reason she didn't want to go there.

"Honey, they don't blame you. How could they?"

"What if uncle Sasuke blames me for what happened... it was when you all came to save me."

"Listen... Sakura wanted to come with. We all tried to talk her out of coming." Naruto said. 'I hate making Sakura sound at fault, though...' he thought.

"I still want to stay..."

"Alright Harumi... I wait 'till your mom gets back then..."

"Go." a voice said from behind Naruto. He whipped around to see Neji suddenly standing behind him. Naruto stood quickly, and ran to the door.

"I'll see you soon, honey. Thanks, Neji!" Naruto yelled, and ran out of the room.

XXX

Naruto stood outside the Uchiha house for a moment, feeling the sadness almost pour out of it. Feeling awkward just standing there, he moved to the front door.

"Sasuke! You home?" Naruto shouted as he knocked on the door. Pausing, he heard the door unlock, and Sasuke opened the door.

"You almost woke up the kids from their nap..." Sasuke mumbled, covered in the scent of strong alcohol. Naruto sighed, and shook his head.

"Lets talk for a minute."

"...Ok..."

The two sat outside on the porch, and were quiet for a moment before Naruto finally spoke.

"I wanted to check how you were doing. I know you are horribly upset, with every reason to be, but... you need to be around people. don't keep all that sadness inside..."

"And what would you have me do? Go out with people like nothing happened?"

"That's not what I'm saying... but you have to keep positive around your kids. They need you more than anything right now."

"What do you know about kids..." Sasuke murmured, he tone becoming dark.

"What?"

"You've only been a father for around 3 months, and you think you can tell me anything? You're a joke..."

"Sasuke... I'm only trying to help..."

"Shut up! If I wanted your help, I would ask for it!" Sasuke yelled. He stood up, and grabbed Naruto's collar, yanking him to his feet. "i want to be left alone!"

Naruto had enough. Shoving Sasuke, he escaped Sasuke's grip. The shove caused Sasuke to stumble back, and fall off the porch. Sasuke slowly sat up, glaring at Naruto the whole time.

"I'm not going to let you just go back to the way you were. I'll beat it out of you if I have to!" Naruto yelled.

"I can never be like I was..." Sasuke mumbled. There was a hint of sadness in his voice, which surprised Naruto. "i keep losing important people in my life. I lost my family when I was a kid. I killed my own brother, who just wanted to help me in the end. I just lost Sakura! How long until I lose one or both of my kids?"

"Sasuke... that won't happen..."

"How do you know! If you even try and saw you will protect them, why didn't you protect Sakura? Because I sure couldn't, lord Hokage!"

Naruto lowered his head, and walked toward Sasuke. Jumping off the porch, he grabbed Sasuke, pulled him to his feet, and punched him in the stomach. Sasuke went down hard, and gasped for air as he clutched his stomach.

"You act like you are the only one who lost someone... I lost a friend... don't you dare act like you are the only one who is hurt either. What about Harumi? She refused to come over, because she was so scared you blamed her for it and hated her now..."

Sasuke's eyes snapped open in shock. As strange as it was, he liked Harumi like an uncle would love a niece. He couldn't be mad at her...

"What about Sakura's friends? Have you even talked to any of them to see how they are doing? Or let them check in on you? Or did you just let me tell the village, and hide away? Do your own kids even know that their mother is dead? Or are you just hoping they forget about her?"

"They know..." Sasuke whispered. "they know. And it has been killing them. Since it happened, they have been unable to leave my side, because they fear that I'm going to die! They sleep with me at night because they have nightmares of me not being there in the morning."

"Sasuke..."

The feeling of sadness was so thick in the air they could almost taste it's bitter bite. Naruto looked away, ashamed he hadn't come sooner to help his friend out. Sasuke stared at him, with tears rolling down his cheeks.

"Let's fight..." Sasuke said, reaching into his pocket.

"What?"

"You heard me... I want to fight you..."

"Why?"

"Because I have a lot of anger right now, and I can't think of anything better to do than smash your stupid face..." Sasuke whispered. Naruto could have swore that Sasuke was begging to fight. 'Why does he want to fight so bad though' Naruto couldn't help but think.

"Fine..." Naruto murmured as he saw Sasuke put on his head band. Naruto took off his Hokage hat and robe, and stood ready to fight in his usual black and orange outfit.

"You still look stupid in that..."

"Shut up..."

The two ran at each other, and began punching each other as fast as they could. The fight, to anyone that could have been watching, the fight looked more like bare knuckle boxing than a fight between two ninja. After the first few blows, they either spit blood after each punch, or bruised the other with each punch. After Sasuke fell to the ground, Naruto stood above him until he realized Sasuke wasn't going to continue the fight.

"Thank you... for that" Sasuke huffed as he tried to catch his breath.

"What? Why? All I did was punch you." Naruto said as he sat on the ground.

"I... needed something to prove to me that I couldn't have...done anymore than I did to help Sakura... if I couldn't punch your stupid face until you gave up, than how could I have done the same thing to the people we faced... I guess... I don't know... Sakura died...being Sakura..." Sasuke said, sounding like he was going to cry again. He hated crying. It made him feel weak. It wasn't what an Uchiha should do, and it definitely wasn't what he would have done years ago. "i... just need to train more..."

"Are your kids going to let you?"

"I'm a ninja... its all I know... training and fighting..."

"If... you wanted to stop being a ninja, the village would understand... I would understand..."

"And leave everything to you? I cant do that. I'm an Uchiha, and there is still someone out there I have to make pay... I have to..."

"Sasuke... what about your kids..."

"In time... I may just... have to find someone to help me raise them..."

"I'll help. You know that."

"Baka... you have no idea what I mean..."

Neji appeared with Harumi on his back suddenly. Looking to the two, he scoffed at the sight of two ninja who had just punched the crap out of each other. Harumi looked over his shoulder, and saw Sasuke. Still fearing he hated her, she ducked behind Neji's shoulder. Sasuke weakly stood up, and took Harumi off of Neji's back. Though Harumi looked terrified, Sasuke looked her in the eyes, and hugged her.

"I'm not mad at you Harumi. You are like a niece to me. I could never be mad at you for something you didn't have control over..." Sasuke whispered. Harumi remained shocked for a moment before finally crying, and hugging Sasuke's neck tightly. "don't cry. Come on... I should get Itachi and Tsune up from their naps. I'm sure they will want to play."

"O-ok..." Harumi sniffled as she spoke. Naruto smiled at the scene that had just unfolded before looking back to Neji, who did not look happy at all.

"An urgent message was just received from the Raikage..." Neji said, before handing him the folded paper. Breaking the seal on the paper, he opened the note.

_Lord Hokage, I have made summons for all Kage's to meet at the Kage summit. Be there. You are faced with serious charges, and the threat of war... -Raikage_

XXX

**A/N: there is the short chapter. War looming on the horizon? No real surprise there. Hope you guys enjoyed it though. Also, sorry Temari wasn't in this chapter. Please review!**

**~lord-maiku!**


	10. The Summit

Naruto Shippuden: Peace No More

XXX

**A/N: here is the new chapter,fixed this time. People made me aware of the fact that I put Tsunade in this, but I want to tell you all that I'm sorry, and I got my stories mixed up. I also fixed Chakra in this, and made sure Sasuke is going to be capitalized from now on. Sorry for screwing up. Please forgive me. **

XXX

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, or anything involved with it. Just this fanfic. None of the characters though...except Genkou.**

XXX

Chapter 10: The Summit

Naruto had a lot on his plate right now... Sakura died, and he was still trying to make sure her close friends were Ok with her death. He had a very quiet, powerful nine-tails fox inside of him. Since getting the fox back, he had not heard one sound from it.

That, and the threat of war loomed over his head. He had no idea what was happening, but the peace he had made for people all over was being ripped away from them. He couldn't face the villagers anymore because he could almost feel the hopes of the villagers, and he knew they would be crushed.

"Honey." Temari said, walking into the room. Naruto looked up, and smiled slightly, feeling suddenly like he was letting her down too. "i know this is hard... it seams like it has been one thing after another... but everything will be fine. Do you want me to come with to the summit meeting?"

"No... you have to be here with Harumi..." Naruto whispered. Suddenly, he felt worse. Harumi was going to be growing up in a world with war. He thought he had fixed all that, but now, he couldn't be sure...

"That's Ok... you should take Sasuke and Kakashi. Maybe Neji and Sasuke."

"Alright..."

Temari suddenly got the feeling that he wasn't listening. She couldn't be mad, because he had worked hard for world peace, and now it was probably gone. She walked to him, and sat on the desk, facing him. She had to do something to cheer him up.

"Want to have sex?" she asked.

"No..."

"Ok... well, how about we get married?"

"What?"

"Look at it like this. When you get back from the summit, if we go to war, than it will be a moment of happiness for the villagers before the war. If there is no war, than it will be part of the celebration. I know you have more to think about than marriage, so I will take care of it. We love each other, and we have a child. I know it's not romantic, but it might be what the people will need."

"Go ahead and plan it. Ask around to see what others think about a wedding..."

"Okay. Ill leave you to work."

Temari walked from the room quietly, and shut the door. Shizune was to her right, looking at Temari with slight concern.

"Did you tell him?" Shizune asked.

"No... he wasn't in the right place to be happy about it... I'll give it time..."

XXX-at the village gates, later-XXX

Naruto, Sasuke, and Neji stood at the threshold of the opened village gates. Temari and Harumi were there to see them off, along with Hinata to say good bye to her cousin, and Ino and Karin, with Sasuke's kids.

"We will be back soon. Wish us luck." Naruto said, kissing Temari and his daughter good bye. Sasuke hugged his son, and kissed his daughter on her forehead as she slept.

"Promise you will come back, daddy!" Itachi said, trying so hard not to cry, yet tears still fell from his eyes. Sasuke smiled, and bent down so he was eye to eye with his son.

"This is a peaceful meeting, but I promise I will come back, Itachi. Ok?"

Sasuke's response seemed to help his son, and Itachi nodded. Sasuke smiled, and hugged his son again, before they finally turned to go.

The three left, wishing they were going any other place then the Kage summit. Jumping to the trees, they took off as fast as possible. Neji and Sasuke both saw the letter, being told to keep it secret until it was sure they were going to war. Neji didn't know the full story about the mission to rescue Harumi, but he was sure it had something to do with it. Having never actually met Genkou himself, he could still connect some dots to make it apparent to him that Genkou was behind it. Sasuke and Naruto silently shared the same view, and hoped there wasn't going to be any unnecessary violence because of it.

"Tell me... what happened on that mission... really..." Neji asked suddenly. Naruto and Sasuke both turned their heads to look at him, and Naruto lead them to a small path on the ground where they could speak. Naruto turned toward Neji and sighed once they were in the clearing.

"What I'm going to show you... it's probably what this summons is all about..."

Neji nodded, and prepared for Naruto to reach to his pocket, and pull out some found artifact from another village, or even a scroll containing secret information. Instead, Naruto closed his eyes. Naruto entered his mind, and looked up. Above him was the foxes Chakra in a ball, ready for Naruto to take. Looking to his left, he saw the foxes cage. Inside the cage, the fox didn't even seem to care that Naruto was there. The fox stared into space as Naruto reached up, and pulled the Chakra to himself.

Neji's eyes showed the instant shock as Naruto entered the fox Chakra mode, and he even stepped back. To Neji, everything made sense. If this Genkou person hated Naruto and Sasuke enough, than it was obvious that he had taken this information to other villages. If Neji were in Genkou's shoes, he would have went straight for the lightning village, as the Raikage had the strongest relationship with the Jinchuuriki out of all the other Kage's. He also was horribly affected by the death of their Jinchuuriki, and the sudden knowledge that killer Bee died for nothing would probably strike the wrong nerves. The entire thing made sense now.

"Damn. I see... then it's that Genkou person behind this..."

Sasuke nodded in agreement with Neji's statement, and was the next to speak.

"That's what I thought the moment I saw the letter. You and I both know what we would have done in his place, so it is looking like he has used this information against us..."

Naruto looked at the two with confusion all over his face. He had been so worried about the threat, he never even tried to figure out why, only how to deal with it. Sasuke looked at him, and sighed.

"It's like this... Genkou found out about the nine tails, and the tailed beasts were supposed to be all dead. With the knowledge that they now will exist again, what do you think he would do with that? He would take the information and spread it to all the Kages he could. My guess it, the Raikage is the one that is started this threat after hearing the information..." Neji informed, watching Naruto as the realization hit him. It was quiet for a moment before Naruto could speak.

"You are probably right. You're brilliant, Neji. I hope that it's not what this is all about..."

"If it is, they could pin a lot on you without actually needing proof. They could accuse you of keeping the fox, and not telling anybody about it. The villages never needed to look for secrets before now, because of the peace. But the fox makes things a lot different..."

Naruto was quiet for a while before he spoke again, worrying both Sasuke and Neji.

"What if we took the fox and killed it?"

"Wouldn't work..." Sasuke stated, "the other tailed beasts would still come back, and we would be weakened from not having a Hokage. The easiest thing would be to find the beasts, and combine them like the Akatsuki did before. Maybe we could even find a way for the containers to survive, like you did. It cant just be some freak thing, there has to be a reason that you survived."

"Right," Neji remarked. "but let's search for the answer after we deal with the current threat. There is no way we can do anything about the beasts return now that this has started..."

"Ok... lets get going..."

The three ninja took off once again, and were speeding toward the summit as fast as they could.

XXX-back at the village-XXX

Itachi started crying the moment Sasuke was out of sight. Harumi looked to her mother with sadness all over her face, and went to Itachi's side.

"It's Ok. He promised he would come back. Uncle Sasuke is strong." Harumi said, patting Itachi on the back. The older people there stood, smiling as Harumi did her best to calm her friend down. Itachi continued to cry, and Harumi hugged him, trying her best not to cry out of confusion of what to do, and being purely overwhelmed by the situation. Temari saw her daughter's face, and decided to step in.

"Hey, guys, how about we go get some food, and play. I don't think Ino or Karin would mind of you wanted to stay the night, Itachi."

Itachi looked to Ino and Karin in time to see them giving a thankful look to Temari, and turning back to Itachi, both nodding happily. The two of them had no idea what to do with a child, so this took a lot off their plate. They hated just pushing Itachi to Temari, even though Temari suggested it, but it was a huge relief. Now if they could only think of what to do with the baby...

"Come on," Temari insisted, happily. She stood, and turned to walk away. Both Harumi and Itachi left, hand in hand. Karin, Hinata and Ino squealed with happiness at the sight of the two holding hands, and fought to "awwww" with all their might. Ino looked to her arms at the baby she held, because the child began to fuss. No smell, so it must have been hungry.

"You know, I hear that baby's are supposed to have breast milk to insure their healthy growth. So who among us it going to become her wet nurse..." Ino asked. Both her and Karin looked at each others breasts, then both looked at Hinata, who "eeped" at their looks, which seemed to target her breasts as being perfect for the role. Karin and Ino already felt lacking, and didn't care to see if the rumor that breast feeding made breasts smaller. If Sakura were alive, she could have told them if it was true or not, but she wasn't.

"Here you go! Now go talk to Shizune about a wet nurse jutsu. I'm sure she might even know it!" Karin said, patting Ino on the back to hand over the baby. Ino walked over and forfeited the child into Hinata's care, and stepped back. Hinata took the child that was forced onto her, and the two girls walked away. Hinata looked to the black haired girl in her arms, and sighed. She had no idea what to do, but was expected to know. She turned, with a baby in her arms, and headed to go find the medical leader

XXX

"So they left you with her, huh?" Shizune asked, getting up from her chair to look at the baby. "i can teach you the jutsu if you want to be her wet nurse. Otherwise, you should take her to the Konoha hospital. Somebody there will be happy to help out with Sakura's child."

"N-no... I want to help, and I don't want anybody m-mad at me because I d-didn't do anything..."

"You shouldn't feel pressured into this. It may seem weird now, but you will be helping this little girl here grow. It's a big deal. You should be proud, if you choose to do it."

"I do."

"Well then. Ill show you the hand seals. When you do them, you are going to feel a lot of... pressure... but it's Ok. Then, ill help get you comfortable with the baby, and then you can leave if you want, or you are welcome to stay and we can talk."

Shizune ran through the hand seals, and explained what needed to be done with the Chakra. Hinata did what she was told, experienced what she was told she would, and was aided in feeding the child. Though Hinata felt very strange with a baby that wasn't hers at her breast, she was helping out. That was what counted to her.

"You are doing great Hinata. Do you want to talk for a while, or would you rather go?"

"I'll stay for a while. Do you know how to properly put a diaper on a baby?"

"You know nothing involving mothering, do you?"

"No..."

"I'll show you later. Is there anything you want to talk about before I show you?"

"Um," Hinata said, thinking of what to talk about. There were some things she didn't want to bring up, but it was still nice that the retired Hokage wanted to talk to her.

"Have you seen Harumi?" Shizune asked, starting the discussion. Hinata quickly nodded, and spoke.

"I have. She is quite adorable. Do you agree?"

"I do. Though that idiot, Naruto, hasn't brought her by nearly as much as I would have wished. I did get to see her one of the first days she came here. I usually have to go to the Hokage's office to see her. That bastard forgets I helped make him who he is!" Tsunade yelled in rage. Hinata couldn't help but laugh a little. The entire situation was funny as well. Hinata herself breast feeding a child that wasn't hers. Tsunade talking with her like they had been friends forever.

"I have only seen her a handful of times myself."

"So we both have only seen the little fox princess less than we wanted... now, onto what I wanted to talk to you about. How... have you been doing since Temari and Naruto are very officially a couple. I know that you used to love him..."

This was one conversation she had hoped not to have. Ever. Shizune continued to watch her, which meant she wanted an answer.

"At...first... I didn't know what to think... then, I was mad... mad at myself really. I had all the chances in the world, and I never took any of them. Now, I feel a lot better... not completely better, but I do feel better..."

"I see... and, what are your feelings toward Temari?"

"I'm jealous... very jealous. For every reason you can think of, and some you can't..."

"Ok... but you are peaceful with her, right? I mean, she may be the next lady Hokage."

"Again... at first... I wasn't... I was a reason Temari found out about Karin and Ino sleeping with Naruto... now, I regret doing it... but at the time, I was jealous..."

"It's Ok. I understand jealousy. Maybe better than you think. You might now know it, but the last man I loved constantly ignored my advances, always slept with other women, and died before I felt I could tell him..."

"I'm sorry... but thank you for understanding..."

"Your welcome. I know you weren't very close to Sakura, but would you mind stretching the offering of peace toward Temari? She lost the first friend since moving out here that she had."

"Yes Shizune. I will. I know Naruto is out of my reach now, and... I'm willing to be nice..."

"Thank you... and remember. If you love Naruto, and he is with Temari, than you should be able to be happy as long as he is."

"Yes, Shizune."

XXX-at the summit-XXX

Naruto and his entourage landed at the foot of the summit, and stared at the building. It felt like staring the threat against their lives in the face. To Naruto it felt like the threat against the peace he created was a physical manifestation in the building itself. Neji just hated the look of the building, and could tell things were going to happen in the next hour or so.

As the trio walked into the building, they were greeted by the guards that were employed there. After that, the three walked into the meeting room, and saw the other Kages had already arrived. Gaara instantly stood, and walked to Naruto. Following Gaara to greet him were Kankuro, and Matsuri.

Other people in the room were the current Tsuchikage: Kurotsuchi, and her two guards Akatsuchi, and Ittan. With Mei was with Chōjūrō, and her other body guard, Ao. Looking to A, Naruto saw an angry glare from him. Behind A was Darui, and... Genkou.

Rage flared up suddenly within Naruto. The sudden realization of what Neji said earlier, that it was true, sent Naruto over the edge. He began to tremble as his rage seemed to continue to build, with no end in sight. Just as he was about to start moving to attack, he felt two hands on his shoulders. Behind him, Neji and Sasuke both placed their hands on Naruto to calm him down, and hold him back if need be. Sasuke looked calm enough, for someone who was seeing one of the people responsible for his wife's death. Neji looked at Genkou, and could hardly believe what he was seeing.

"No body ever told me he looks like Sasuke..." Neji whispered. The look on his face was one of quiet fury.

"We will talk about it later." Sasuke answered.

By Mei, they could see Ao looking quickly from Neji to Mei with a look of terror on his face. Mei looked up to Neji, and smiled.

"Depending on how this goes, you may be down an eye..." Mei said, seeming to be checking out Neji.

"Let's get this done with!" A yelled at the people who seemed to be goofing around.

Everyone in the room got quiet, and Naruto and Gaara took their seats. Sasuke and Neji stood behind Naruto, as tradition stated, and the meeting began.

"You are accused of holding onto the nine-tailed fox while all of our Jinchuuriki died. Not only have you promised us false peace, as the tailed beasts will now return, but you have also lied to us. What do you have to say to this?" A questioned.

"I didn't have the fox... to be honest, the only reason I have the fox was because the fox hid a part of himself in my daughter... I only survived the extraction on the fox... well, I don't know how I survived. All I know is it hurt like hell, and I thought I was going to die..."

Genkou whispered something to A, and A seemed to become more angry. Maybe Genkou planned this kind of answer. All Naruto knew was, he was pissed about Genkou being there.

"You expect us to believe that answer?" A roared.

"Just so I know, who is exactly on our side in this right now?" Sasuke asked. As expected, Gaara raised his hand. Looking around, they also noticed Mei's hand up. That was it. It seemed to be three on two. It seemed like good odds, but both people against them had very strong armies.

"You have used the fox mode, and we can prove it." A yelled again. It seemed it was a public argument between Naruto and A more than a war debate with the Kages. "Genkou... show them what you saw when they attacked you..."

"Attacked him! He attacked our village, and stole my daughter!" Naruto yelled, now showing his anger.

"One of his men killed my wife..." Sasuke included.

"He killed my men as I tried to rebuild our clan's hide out..." Genkou snapped, trying to make it seem like he was the victim, and a true Uchiha. "besides, do you have any proof that we attacked your village? Did you tell the other Kages when I supposedly attacked? Did you do anything?" Genkou asked. He made the hand seal to transform, and changed into Naruto in the tailed-beast mode. Everyone in the room gasped. Naruto had realized that he had never sent a letter to the other Kages, and was kicking himself because of it. He didn't even notify anyone after they had kidnapped his daughter. Gaara was sitting, not caring what was being shown right now. He was too focused on Genkou having kidnapped his niece, and Naruto not telling him. He was also angry that Naruto had been so careless. Though he didn't have to tell other villages, he was still angry that Naruto hadn't at least told him. Naruto was Naruto however, and it was easy to forgive. Mei knew she was going to stick with Naruto and Gaara. She knew enough about Naruto to know that if Naruto said someone did terrible things, the person did them. Naruto wasn't the kind of person this Genkou was making them out to be. If the other two Kages wanted to be on a side where they just wanted to fight Naruto from some personal vendetta, then she would help Naruto make them see their error.

"Here is the question. Are you actually planning on going to war against him, all because of what Genkou says? Gaara and I both know Naruto. Gaara can personally vouch for that Naruto is not the kind of person this Genkou person seems to be making him out to be." Mei asked.

"Genkou has given me all the proof I need. I will make sure he is made to answer for his lies." A responded.

"And are you going to go against him as well, Tsuchikage?"

"My village has always disliked the leaf village. I see no reason not to continue that. The way I see it, Genkou is presenting facts that actually seem to mean something. Naruto is just making up excuses to me."

"Then... it seems like the fifth shinobi war will happen..." Gaara murmured. Naruto broke out in a cold sweat. Everything he had once fought for was gone in this very moment.

"Then... in two weeks, expect an official declaration of war..." A said, and stood. He was done seeing their faces. As Genkou followed him out, he looked back to Sasuke and Naruto, and smiled. He had won. The Raikage would have called war there, but since the peace that Bee had died for started, he let his military forces slip a little. One week would get him a lot of his strength back, and anything after that would only be a bonus.

The Tsuchikage left with her bodyguards as well. Naruto sat in his seat, with his head held in his hands. His mind was racing about what the villagers would think. What the villagers from mist and sand villages would think. He put their Kages in very difficult places.

"Why didn't you tell me..." Gaara whispered as he walked to Naruto. Naruto looked up, and saw anger in Gaara's eyes. "that my niece was kidnapped. That these things were happening to you?"

"Gaara... I'm... sorry..."

"Some day, you will make it up to Kankuro and I, but for now, we have enough to worry about." Gaara started walking away, but turned to look at Naruto one last time before he left. "i do forgive you, however. Protect my sister and niece, Naruto..."

"Yeah..."

Gaara had left. Naruto saw no reason to stay at this point. Looking at Mei, he nodded in thanks for her help, and left. Ao looked at Mei.

"You didn't tell the Hyūga?" he asked, the sound of being thankfulness too obvious in his voice.

"You are still needed. After the war, if you are still alive, than I will tell them. I don't do it because I dislike you, but because I wish to show them I mean to keep the peace. If Naruto has the fox again, for whatever reason, then her would be a very powerful, very destructive, opponent." Mei answered. Ao nodded in understanding.

Outside, Naruto stood as he still faced the face all he worked for was gone. Sasuke and Neji watched him for a moment before saying anything. The two realized what this meant for him. It did a lot of damage to their Hokage, and the fact that he now had to fight a war meant the pain would continue.

"I'm sorry that it came to this, Naruto..." Sasuke murmured.

"Agreed. But the village will understand. You couldn't control everything, after all.

"Yeah... can we... just get going...?" Naruto asked quietly.

"Yeah..." Sasuke murmured. Together, the group left, knowing war was coming.

**A/N: here is the chapter that finalizes the plot. Hope you all enjoyed it, and hope to see some reviews. Again, sorry about the stuff I messed up in it. I fixed it all I think, and now it should be worth the read. I'm putting up a poll, so after you finish reading this, go and vote on it!**

**~lord-maiku!**


	11. Planning

Naruto Shippuden: Peace No More

XXX

**A/N: hey everybody. Sorry this update took forever. A tough thing will be writing a war, as I'm not that good at typing battles, and a war is sure to be straining. I would like to put the entire war in one chapter, but it would take a really long time to write, and I'm not going to expect you all to read an whole war in one chapter. It will probably be about 4 or 5 chapters. After the war, there will be maybe 3 chapters explaining what happens after the war, and after that, the end. I may continue this universe if people want a Harumi X Itachi story, but otherwise, I wont.**

XXX

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

XXX

Chapter 11: Planning

Naruto, Sasuke, and Neji appeared back at the village with nobody awaiting their return. Naruto had seen no reason to walk, so he used the thunder god jutsu to bring them back almost instantly. People in the village who saw them arrive smiled, waved, and greeted them. The whole time, Naruto envied and pitied them. He envied that they had no idea they were about to experience another world war. He pitied them for the fact they actually believed their own Hokage could keep the peace...

The first to leave the group was Neji, who simply said he was leaving, and did so quickly. The next to part was Sasuke, though he didn't leave right away. He had something to say to Naruto.

"Naruto... the war thing... it's not your fault. You didn't plan for this, so you shouldn't be kicking yourself for something that somebody else started. The people will not be mad at you." Sasuke stated.

"I still feel like I am responsible... hey, Sasuke..."

"Yeah?"

"Temari... wants to get married... do you think it would be a good idea before the war?"

"There will be a few that are mad, but I think a lot more will be happier for you about it. They understand that you are young, and I'm sure they would want you to be married if you were possibly going to die in a war..."

"I... don't know how I really feel about it... but I guess it may happen... maybe... I'll ask the villagers what they think..."

"Do it after you announce the war."

"Yeah..."

Sasuke left, and Naruto decided to walk back to the mansion by taking the longer way. He needed time to think about how to break it to Temari and Harumi. He worried about what would happen with Harumi when Temari and Naruto were off fighting the war... as Naruto thought, he kept coming back to how much he wished Temari wouldn't be able to fight for whatever reason. After Sakura died, it left a bad taste in Naruto's mouth that didn't want to leave when it came to the idea of Temari fighting. He knew there was nothing he could do, but then again, he couldn't really guard her the entire time. He would probably have to send Temari back if Gaara felt he needed her on his side.

As he got to the mansion, he looked up at it. Feelings of failure welled up inside of him, and he could only think about how he let his villagers down. A Hokage was supposed to protect his people, and he had failed them. He had made the biggest mistake he could have by allowing a war to come about. Maybe somebody else should have been the Hokage...

"Naruto!" someone called from the roof. Naruto looked up, and saw Temari looking down at him. Rushing to the side steps, they both met half way, and hugged tightly. The moment they met, Naruto began to let out his feelings, and began to cry. Temari hugged him tighter as she felt the sobs, and brushed his hair with her hand in a soothing way. She didn't have to ask how it went. These weren't sobs of happiness. She knew there was going to be a war.

"Temari... I failed... I failed everybody..." he cried. Temari eased the embrace so she could look him in the eyes.

"You didn't fail. You did everything you could have, I'm sure. You didn't want a war, but sometimes it is out of your control. And I'm sure my brother is on your side. He understands you better than a lot of people."

"He is... and we have Kiri's support... but this still never should have happened. I should have been able to stop it..."

"And, like I said, you can't do everything. I still love you, and I know none of this is your fault. If you tell the villagers exactly what happened, than I'm sure they will still love you. And you know no matter what, Harumi will love you as well."

"I just can't shake the feeling that its all my-"

Temari let go of Naruto in an instant, and smacked him. Naruto staggered back from the force of it, and held his cheek. The two were quiet for a moment before Naruto finally said anything. At first it was a dry chuckle. It then got more and more powerful, and soon he was full on laughing.

"Thanks Temari... I really needed that... though... next time, maybe a little softer..."

"I'm punching you next time."

Naruto sighed, and smiled lightly. He found it weird that a smack had seemed to clear his head, but he was always around abusive women. Maybe it was just something he needed to let him know he was still Naruto Namikaze, and that he could achieve his dreams if he tried hard enough.

"Let's go inside..." Naruto sighed, and started back down the stairs. Temari got to his side, and grasped his hand tightly.

"Everything will be Ok."

"I keep telling myself that... but I don't see how it will... also... I asked Sasuke about how he felt about the marriage..."

"What did he say?"

"He said I should ask people how they feel. I guess he understands the reasons, but he thinks we should make sure the village is behind it in case we decide to..."

"Sounds like a good idea. We can deal with it all tomorrow."

As they made their way to the door, Sasuke ran up and called to them. The two turned and looked, and Temari waved. When Sasuke got to them, he sighed before he started talking.

"I went to get my kids from Ino, and she said you had Itachi, and Hinata has Tsune." Sasuke groaned. He was tired from running around the whole village.

"Yeah. I offered to watch Itachi. Right now, Harumi and Itachi are asleep. You are welcome to wake him, but you can have the night to yourself if you would like. We don't mind having Itachi over. He is really well behaved." Temari stated

"Thanks. I guess I'll get him in the morning then. Though I am going to go get Tsune. I hope she hasn't been that much of a problem for Hinata..."

"Alright. See you tomorrow." Naruto said. He turned, and they went inside. They went up stairs, and headed up to bed. When they got up stairs, Naruto saw Harumi and Itachi both asleep. He had to smile, seeing the two asleep in Harumi's bed. So young, and so innocent. With no idea of what war was.

"You know," Naruto started, "if they were older, this would be a problem..."

"Wouldn't it be cute if they became a couple?" Temari laughed lightly. "besides, you were sixteen when Harumi was... thought of..."

"Pedophile..."

"You didn't seem to mind at the time. Do you now?"

Naruto got into bed, after undressing, and looked over to Harumi.

"I never have and I never will think that was a mistake."

The two laid down, and cuddled close to each other. Using their body heat to keep themselves warm on this cold night, they drifted off to sleep.

XXX-with Sasuke-XXX

Sasuke walked to the Hyūga compound to find Hinata and his daughter. He was a little mad that Ino and Karin had just dumped his daughter on Hinata. 'I'm sure Hinata said she didn't mind, but no one can ever tell with Hinata.' Sasuke thought.

At the gate to the compound, a guard saw Sasuke coming and approached him.

"How can I help you?" the guard asked.

"Is Hinata here? Because she has my daughter."

"Ah. Yes. And the whole house hold has seen your child as well. People were wondering where the mystery baby came from. I'll take you to her room."

"Thanks."

The two made their way into the compound, and up a flight of stairs. As they arrived at the door to Hinata's room, them guard turned and left. Sasuke looked back, finding it awkward that the man had just left. Sasuke saw a light on under the door, and decided he would just walk in to get his child. Opening the door, he entered the room to see Hinata breast feeding his daughter. Hinata blushed instantly, and froze in her seat. Sasuke looked at her for a moment, before he eventually began to laugh so hard he had to hold his stomach. If anybody would have told him he would have walked in and seen what he just did a few minutes ago, he might have laughed at the idea, but actually seeing this was too funny to him.

"Are you really feeding her?" Sasuke asked between bouts of laughs. He barely caught her nod, and instantly started to calm down. He wiped his eyes, and corrected his stance. "really, thank you, but you didn't have to do that. I just plan on giving her a bottle."

Hinata was incredibly embarrassed, and could only look at her feet. Sasuke smiled, remembering that she was extremely sensitive to emotional situations, and remembered how withdrawn she could become. Sasuke walked to her, and sat beside her.

"Really, though. Thank you. I feel silly for worrying about her while I was away. I would have felt a lot better while I was gone if I would have known it was you watching her. Ino and Karin were bad choices, but Temari had enough to worry about, and I didn't really know you well enough to ask your help."

"T-thats not true... we are friends... just not very close friends... you could ask me to help you no matter what."

"Thanks. That does mean a lot, and I think I will take you up on your offer...some other time though..." as he was going to ask for her help in the upcoming trials, he realized she didn't know of the war yet, and knew she couldn't sit out of the war to watch his baby. "you would be welcome to stay at my home if you would like. You could continue watching her, if that would make you happy..."

Hinata looked at the baby in her arms, and smiled. "i would like that. Just for tonight though. I'm sure my father would find it strange if I just moved in to take care of your child..."

"Like I care what he thinks..." Sasuke murmured, looked at Hinata, and started to laugh. The two stood, and left.

XXX-the next morning-XXX

Naruto had gathered the entire village in the village square. He didn't want to get up that morning, knowing that telling everyone that he failed would be one of the hardest things he would ever have to do. Would they request that he step down? Would they be that furious? Naruto couldn't calm his stomach, and it had been giving him the pain of being nervous all day. While Temari had tried to cheer him up all day, he knew she was nervous as well.

As the entire village looked up to the place Naruto was standing, Naruto looked back to the people he had supporting him. Sasuke stood behind him quite a ways, and Temari stood at his side. With the village was waiting for word as to why they were all summoned, Naruto turned and looked at the village.

"Everyone!" Naruto started out loudly. Instantly, it was obvious he was nervous. His voice had shaken slightly. "i have... awful news... it seems that other countries wish to go to war against us... I'm not going to lie, it is my fault... the nine tailed fox hid itself within my daughter, and transferred to me during her kidnapping I'm sure some of you heard about. The other Kages heard about the fox joining with me, and seemed to think that I had the fox all these years. I assure you all, however, that I did not. we do have allies however, as the sand and mist villages want to help us out. I do apologize for breaking my promise of eternal peace... I'm sorry I ruined everything..."

The crowd seemed to fight internally with the news for a moment. All the village shinobi seemed to scan the area for a sign of anything that could mean trouble. A lot expected a riot. Kakashi stood near the door to the Hokage mansion to guard if need be, and many others loyal to Naruto stayed on guard. Though a lot of the shinobi from the leaf village were shocked about the news, those close to Naruto found out very soon after Naruto got back from the summit.

When the crowd was speechless for long enough, Naruto turned around, and started to walk away. Instantly, Sasuke was at the spot Naruto was just at. The crowd looked up at Sasuke with slight surprise. Naruto looked back in shock. Temari sighed at the stupidity that was probably about to be expelled from his mouth. A lot of the villagers still held a grudge against Sasuke for leaving the village, siding with Orochimaru, and then siding with Tobi. They were willing to listen to whatever he had to say right now, however.

"Your Hokage did everything he could have to prevent this war. Even when it was official, he still kept a calm head around the other Kages, and never showed a bit of fear. While it does suck that we are going to go to war, we can still thank Naruto for giving us more years of peace than any previous Hokage, and giving us a truer level of peace at that." the people of the audience seemed to consider what he was saying, yet some still grumbled insults toward the Uchiha. "i think our great Hokage deserves a little happiness before he leads the leaf shinobi into battle. He should get married, as is Temari's wish, before the war."

The villagers paused their insults at the statement and looked at Sasuke. It was a strange way of asking what they thought, but it still was a way of getting it across. They looked up at Sasuke as if to see if he was serious. Some of the shinobi in the crowd did the same. When Sasuke's look did not waver, they were sure he was serious. They all then took another moment to think over what he requested. Behind Sasuke, Naruto looked in terror at Sasuke. He couldn't see the crowd, and was sure they looked angry. Temari was smirking, happy that someone brought it up. She didn't blame Naruto for not saying anything. He was in a tough spot, and didn't feel like it would have made him comfortable to ask what the villagers thought. As Sasuke awaited an answer from the crowd, Naruto staggered toward him angerly. It seemed inappropriate to ask such a thing at the announcement of a war. As he got closer to the balcony, the crowd began to cheer. Naruto froze just before he could do anything he planned to do to Sasuke, and slowly looked over to the crowd. Random whistles and cheers of "go for it!" erupted from the villagers. Naruto smiled, and could hardly believe he had just announced a war. He quickly looked to Temari, who was smiling brightly at him. For now, he hoped things would look up until the dark cloud of war finally came.

XXX-in the Hokage mansion-XXX

Naruto walked to the door of his office, hoping to get some papers done before he would have to work on wedding plans, and eventually war strategy. As he got to the door, however, he heard Sasuke speaking, and what seemed like a lot of people rushing around. Grabbing the door handle, he gulped as he opened the door, slowly.

Inside, Sasuke sat at the Hokage's desk as Temari sat off to the side, watching as Ino, Karin, Hinata, Shizune, Shikamaru, and Konohamaru talked amongst themselves. It was obvious what was going on. They were already working on the wedding.

"Hey, Naruto!" Sasuke said as he took his feet off the Hokage's desk, which Naruto hadn't noticed were there before.

"If you want to sit at that desk, you have to be Hokage..." Naruto said walking to take his seat. Sasuke smiled, and stood up.

"You know, I like that seat so much, I may have to become Hokage to sit there."

"I don't plan to retire any time soon. Sorry."

"I can wait."

Naruto looked amongst the group again, seeing Harumi drawing on some paper as she sat on the ground near her mother. Itachi was doing the same right next to her. "where's Tsune?"

Sasuke smiled, and pointed. Naruto followed his finger, and spotted Tsune. Being carried by Hinata(sorry all). Naruto smiled at Sasuke slightly, and knew he had to say something.

"So soon?" he joked.

"Naruto... you know it's still way too soon... I don't know if I will ever be ready to move on, but Hinata has been nice enough to help with Tsune. That's all it is..."

"Alright! Just joking! Don't get upset. So what is all happening here?"

"Well, while everyone is working on things for the wedding, everyone has their own job to get things done fast. Everyone has their own job, like finding a good location, food, and decorations. I've been tasked with throwing you a bachelor party. Yes, I have been threatened against there being strippers or anything of the like. Karin is throwing Temari's party."

Naruto gave Sasuke a look of concern, and Sasuke waved it off. "Temari seemed to like the idea. I know what went on, and so does Temari. If she doesn't care, you shouldn't either. Besides, Temari needs more friends around here, and this is a good start."

"Yeah..." Naruto murmured. He wasn't very comfortable with the idea, but Sasuke was right.

"If Sakura were still here, it would be her doing all this. We both know that..."

Though Sasuke was still greatly upset, everybody was being supportful enough that he found things to concentrate on, and help get over what would have been a bad depression.

"While I'm thinking of it, I'm the best man, right?"

Naruto smiled at the question, and instantly nodded. "of course. I'm friends with a lot of people, but you and I are like brothers. That's why I always fought for you to come home."

"Thanks."

"Speaking of best-whatevers, who is your maid of honor?" Ino asked Temari. Temari looked at Ino for a moment, not knowing what to say. She didn't have many friends she considered close, so she didn't have an answer.

"I... I don't know... I guess we will have to see later."

"So then, some sort of competition then?" Karin chimed in. Temari smiled awkwardly, and nodded slightly.

"I guess so."

Though they knew it would cause problems later, Temari was excited to move on other things. So many things needed to be done before the date of the wedding, which was one week from then, and on a Saturday. Though they all tried to keep their minds off it, Monday would start the war.

They still had to find a location, pick colors, flowers, and get the dress clothing for it. The town seemed to make a sudden change, which bothered Naruto, after the word of the marriage was announced by Sasuke.

"Alright guys. I want to speak with my husband to be." Temari said, interrupting what everybody was doing at that moment. "go and get some of the stuff ready. We don't have that long until this thing happens."

Everybody seemed happy to get out and about as they walked quickly out of the room, excited to get started on one of the biggest weddings in recent times. Sasuke walked over, picked up Itachi, and made his way out with the others. Temari sighed, thinking about the hassle of picking a maid of honor, yet she was happy to talk to Naruto about how he felt about all this now.

"What's up?" Naruto asked as Temari sat on his desk next to where he rested his elbows.

"I just wanted to know what you felt about all this."

"Well... at first..." Naruto said as he moved his elbows off the desk into a position he used when thinking. "i thought it was a bad idea. It seemed selfish... but now... everybody seems to like the idea. They view it in the exact way you and Sasuke thought they would. I am growing on the idea more and more, but I still worry it sounds selfish..."

"I understand." Temari said, than kissed Naruto. "but try and enjoy it. It will be a while until we can just sit and relax together again. And if you are good and behave, when we are married, I will have a surprise for you."

"Like... ramen?" Naruto asked sheepishly. Temari sighed, and smacked her forehead. Harumi, who was sitting on the ground, began to clap her hands and shout ramen excitedly.

"Maybe, but for now you can assume that it is not ramen. Now lets go out, have lunch, and continue with planning our wedding. We cant let everyone else do it, or it won't feel like it is our wedding."

"Ramen! Ramen! Ramen!" Harumi chanted excitedly, causing Temari to sigh again.

"Fine! We can get ramen! But don't expect it as much as your father lets you have yet-thinks-i-don't-know." Temari stated, adding extra emphasis on the last part. Harumi snapped back into the well behaved child mode, and nodded. Looking back at Naruto, she glared. Naruto smiled awkwardly and rubbed the back of his head. "i swear you are ruining all the work I put into raising her. Now she is spoiled."

"Heh heh! Sorry!" Naruto smiled, still rubbing the back of his head.

"You are lucky I love you..."

Naruto looked up, almost feeling shocked. Even though it had been a while since they started saying it, there were times when he could feel the love in the way she said it, rather than it just being something to say. This was one of those times.

Temari bent over, kissed Naruto again, and got what she needed to go out to eat. Harumi, who was back in good girl mode, got up and put her stuff away, even though it was in Naruto's desk. Harumi then got her shoes on, and went to her mother. Naruto took his Hokage hat and robe off, and walked out the door with his daughter and soon-to-be-wife.

XXX-at Ichiraku ramen-XXX

"So mommy," Harumi started as she got her ramen, "why are you and daddy still not married? I thought you said kids come from husbands and wives, but you two aren't those."

Naruto almost choked on his ramen, and Temari looked at her daughter quickly after the question finished.

"Well..." Naruto started. Both of them looked at each other.

"What brought this on honey?"

"I just realized you guys are going to get married, and that will make you a husband and a wife, right?"

"Well, yeah... but..."

Again, Temari and Naruto looked at each other. It was still a little early, by a long shot, for the birds and the bees talk. Naruto and Temari both started to quickly think of an explanation.

"You see, honey," Teuchi started from behind the counter, much to Temari and Naruto's surprise, "when they had you, they loved each other like a husband and wife. People prefer that a husband and wife have children, but as long as they love each other like a husband and wife do, than it can work out."

Naruto and Temari visibly sighed when Teuchi gave a good explanation. Beyond that, it seemed to make Harumi think, rather than to continue with any other questions she might have had. He looked at them, and gave them a nod of reassurance.

**A/N: Ok, a quick pause. The married thing was just what Temari said.**

**It doesn't mean those are my views on what kind of people should**

**have kids. Get married or don't. Your buisness.**

**~lord-maiku!**

They continued to eat in silence, with Naruto and Temari occasionally having a small conversation about wedding plans. As they continued, Teuchi brought forth plates of delicious smelling food, and sat them in front of Naruto and Temari. Both Naruto and Temari looked confused, and Harumi instantly helped herself to some of it.

"What's all this?" Temari asked, eying the food before she finally tried it.

"Listen. I want to be involved in some way with Naruto's wedding. He is like a son to me, and I have been there for him ever since he first came to this restaurant. I didn't care he drove buisness away because he could have had the devil itself inside of him, and I wouldn't have cared at all. Now, I just want to continue what I have always done. Support him. I wanted to give you proof we could make more than ramen before I asked."

"Oh," Temari whispered, and tasted the food before her. She instantly had a surprised look appear on her face. Teuchi laughed, and Naruto and Harumi both looked at her. "wow. This is really good."

"So does that mean we can cater to the wedding?" Teuchi asked. Temari nodded with no sign of internal struggle, meaning she was completely okay with the idea. Naruto instantly smiled, and Harumi began to clap happily.

"Grandpa Teuchi is gonna feed us all!" she said happily. Naruto looked at her with surprise.

"You knew what cater meant?"

Harumi looked up to her father, and smiled. "mommy taught me a lot of things in our old home."

"I guess so." Naruto murmured. It had taken him a minute to realize what the word meant. Even though he had gained some intelligence, he still lacked on a lot of fields. Namely at this moment, anything to do with wedding ceremonies.

"Oh," Harumi instantly remembered, "what are strippers? Uncle Sasuke mentioned something about them..."

Naruto, Temari, and Teuchi instantly stared at Harumi with seemingly impossibly wide eyes. Each of them looked at one another for a possible explanation from any of them. None of them had any explanation.

"They are bad people, Harumi." Sasuke said, suddenly behind them. They all jumped in shock, with Harumi being the only one who didn't fall or jump. She instead yelled happily, and jumping from her chair, she grabbed her uncle around the neck. Itachi, who was standing next to his father, looked up non-chilantly at Harumi, and smiled.

"Okay, uncle Sasuke!" Harumi yelled, smiling.

"You guys have a lot to get together. You shouldn't be sitting around right now." Sasuke scolded. Naruto smiled, and pointed to the food in front of him.

"We are working on it. Ichiraku ramen is going to cater." Naruto smiled to his friend.

"Wow. They make something other than ramen. It looks good... smells good..." Sasuke said, then picked up one of the pieces of food, and tried it. He savored it for a moment before nodding in approval. "i like it. Cant wait to eat more of it at the wedding."

Teuchi smiled at Sasuke's statement, and waved in agreement. "i think were going to do a table grill system at the reception party. Like the barbecue place."

"That's an awesome idea!" Naruto yelled.

"I thought you would appreciate it, Naruto." Teuchi smiled. "Sasuke is right, though. You should get on with the planning. The wedding is about 2 weeks away, and I'm pretty sure you have almost nothing done. You guys are pulling it really close. That, and Temari doesn't seem like the kind of girl who planned her wedding since she was a little girl."

"I'm not that kind of girl. To be honest, I never thought about getting married until Naruto. He saved my family, he was my first, and that was the start. Before I found out I was pregnant, I kinda had a while where I was slightly... entertaining the idea of marriage. Then I found out I was pregnant. It didn't stop the thoughts, it just made them difficult."

"How so?" Teuchi asked, suddenly interested in the story.

"Well, I knew he was busy with trying to become the Hokage, eventually the war, and by the time everything was over, I was too scared he had found someone else. Obviously, everything worked out."

"Agreed. Well, get outta here and keep planning." Teuchi stated, pointing his finger away from the shop.

"Yes, sir!" Naruto yelled, had stood.

"Bye, grandpa Teuchi!" Harumi giggled.

"See ya eventually. These two can't stay away." Temari said, and held onto Harumi's hand as they left. Teuchi waved to them, and Naruto and Harumi returned the wave, with Temari pulling them both to make sure they got away.

XXX-the Hokage's office-XXX

The wedding planners were all together, which were all the girls from before, and Shikamaru. The guys that had been part of it before were told to leave because "all they wanted to do was joke around".

"Ok, so we are doing it on top of the Hokage mansion, with the colors... orange... and blue as the main theme colors. Ichiraku ramen is catering..." Shikamaru stated, starting to go over what was decided.

"Naruto loves orange, so that is for him. That, and Harumi is starting to love the color too. A regular daddies girl. And Teuchi cooked some really good food today, and if it wasn't for the fact that he made things other than ramen, it would be a 'no.'" Temari explained the reasons. Harumi was playing with an orange flower Ino brought to show what she had. "and I think this flower, and the the light blue ones are the ones we will use." Temari said, pointing to the flowers. The light blue was her favorite, a desert flower from Suna.

"Lucky Naruto. When Ino and I got married, it was all about her..." Shikamaru sighed, before getting hit in the ribs with an elbow via Ino.

"I understand that a lot of women do that. I just don't see myself doing that. Especially considering the fact I never pictured myself getting married until Naruto." Temari explained. Shikamaru smiled about the idea, and the other girls "aw"-ed at the idea.

"Anyway, we have the place, colors, and caterer for the after party. Now, where is the after party taking place?" Shikamaru questioned. Everyone lowered their heads in concentration. Everyone seemed to battle with the idea for a bit, until Hinata suddenly raised her head in excitement.

"How about the first Chuunin exam battle arena?" Hinata offered. The others looked at her with confusion on their faces. "well, the Chuunin exam is where you two first met."

"That would work for me." Temari answered. The others looked at her with shock, except Shikamaru, at the lack of passion in her voice over the idea.

"It's perfect! Though you guys met before the fight, as Shikamaru has told me, but it's such a beautiful idea!" Ino giggled. Temari rolled her eyes, and nodded.

"What else do we need?" Temari asked, hoping that they were done.

"We need kimonos for both of you, we need invitations out, and we need some minor things done that can be decided by us if need be. Like cake." Karin said. Everyone began to giggle when she only said cake as "other" things.

"You have only gone out with Choji for a week, and you are already obsessed with food." Ino joked. Karin pretended to laugh, before finally hitting Ino on the head. As Ino attempted to have a brief fist fight, Shikamaru moved by, and pulled them apart using his shadow Jutsus. The two instantly paused, and looked at Shikamaru with slight rage in their eyes.

"Do you two want to be kicked out as well?" Shikamaru sighed. The two realized they were fighting for no good reason, and visibly calmed down. Shikamaru released his jutsu, and the two moved freely.

"Alright, well... lets get this next round of things out of the way..." Temari sighed in boredom. She hated the idea of preparation for this, but she remained excited about the idea of getting married to Naruto.

XXX-With the guys-XXX

Choji, Sasuke, and Naruto sat in the local bar, talking about all the wedding plans that were being done, and how they were lucky not to be involved. Naruto himself had a lot on his head, and didn't feel like planning a wedding was something he needed on his mind. The lives of a lot of people were riding on his decisions in the future war. Sasuke was enjoying the fact he didn't have to help plan Naruto's wedding, as he had helped Sakura plan their wedding before Itachi's berth. Choji had been told to leave after all he seemed to be concerned with with the food. It hadn't taken long for the three to be tossed out of the planning party.

"I remember when Sakura and I got married. It wasn't like your wedding will be, Naruto. Mine was a clan wedding off of papers I found. Yours seems like it will be the standard Konoha wedding." Sasuke sighed, and took a big gulp of beer.

"It's going to be different? Man... I hoped it would be the same so I had some idea of what it would be like. I guess that explains why you didn't have a best man or anything." Naruto said. Choji was listening to the conversation as he stuffed his face with bar food.

"Yeah. It would have been you if possible, but the clan wedding demanded it be a clan head to speak, and saying there are no other clan members, it had to just be Sakura and I. Besides, I thought you would have been happy with being Itachi's god father."

"I am, but I still can still dream."

"Hey, Sasuke...," Choji asked as he took a momentary break from eating, "does Hinata stay at your clan house while she helps with Tsune?"

"For now. Its nice having someone to help out again. I know it wasn't long, but I forgot how much Sakura helped with the kids. I had almost no time to train for a bit. Now that Hinata is helping out, I can train a bit more. Granted, I can't just keep her helping all the time. She is needed to help with her clan, and to train as well." Sasuke answered. Naruto sat back, enjoyed his drink, and let them talk.

"So are you two dating or something? Cause you two would be great together."

"No. I had to tell Naruto this not that long ago, but we are not going out. If I ever am ready to move on, it will take a long time. It is nice having someone who gets along with the kids. Itachi respects her a lot, and Tsune is too young to understand what is going on."

"So you're _not_ worried that Tsune will think Hinata is her mother?"

Sasuke paused at Choji's question. He had not thought of that, and now he was curious as to why it hadn't crossed his mind. He assumed Tsune knew on a base level who her mother was, and now she was probably confused who it was not that Sakura was gone.

"Good point... well, when she is older, I'm positive she will know. And about before, Naruto... it was still tense between us. I was sealed up, and still a little mad. I guess I needed an enemy to focus on to realize we are friends."

Both Naruto and Choji nodded at their parts of Sasuke's statement, and they moved on to other topics. Choji was the first to speak. "so Naruto, how does it feel to be getting married?"

"Well," Naruto began, and his face darkened slightly, "it feels strange. I'm sure if it wasn't for the upcoming war, I would be perfect with it. I am happy, but I am concentrating on this war so much."

"Naruto..." Sasuke quickly chimed in. "you have to be happy right now. Leave the planning for other people right now. That is what the intelligence team is for. Right now, you have a future wife you have to make happy. That means you have to concentrate on this. The war will take be planned and won before you know it. If you are not happy with that alone, send some clones to the intelligence team to help with strategy while you focus on this."

Choji watched the two as Naruto looked from Sasuke, to his own lap for a moment. Naruto's friends could only guess what was going through their Hokage's head.

"That... actually sounds like a good idea..." Naruto murmured. He made a hand seal, and created ten clones, that instantly ran out of the bar. After they left, Naruto visibly showed signs of relaxing, and sighed with ease. The two with him smiled slightly, seeing how easy it was to temporarily ease their leader's mind.

"So now how you feel about getting married?" Sasuke asked, seeing a break in Naruto's stress. Naruto looked up at Sasuke, seeming to have forgotten the topic had been asked only a little before then.

"It's crazy. I always used to be so hated in the village... then after the pain invasion, I saw everyone in the village seem to change instantly. At first, it was so weird. Then after I became Hokage I got more used to it. Girls flirted with me. People daily talked to me, and thanked me for whatever good I had done. I'm glad it is Temari, because she is the first girl to ever say she loves me." Naruto said, showing his growing happiness on his face, bit by bit.

"Really? Cause I heard there were others to say they love you. After Temari, but they did. Even before you knew about Harumi." Sasuke said. "for instance, Ino and Karin."

The information didn't seem to bother Choji at all, though Naruto felt strange being encountered with the recollection of his past endeavors.

"Go ahead, Naruto. I'm fine with what Karin did before we got together. Besides, I was one of the first who found out about it, remember?" Choji reassured.

"It's just... I don't know... something about Temari being the first one to say she loved me meant a lot. Then there was Hinata, but I guess it's for the best I didn't realize what she really meant until recently. Ino and Karin didn't really mean it when they said it... I could feel it. That doesn't mean I didn't like hearing it. It just didn't have the effect on me that Temari did."

"Good thing it didn't, too." Choji smiled. Naruto nodded, and looked back at Sasuke.

"After she came to the village with Harumi... well, you know how I felt. After some time, it has just become so... natural for her to be there. I really do like waking up in the morning with her there next to me, and Harumi across the room."

Sasuke sat back, and could see the truth behind what Naruto was saying. "good. I wanted to hear a real reason you were happy with this. If you weren't happy with the idea at all of marrying her, regardless of the timing, I would tell you not to. Marriage is difficult. Sakura and I weren't married that long, and it still got difficult at times. You do, however, seem up for it. That's good."

As the three sat enjoying their drinks, they failed to notice Hinata walk in with Tsune. Hinata walked up to the table, and almost scared the ninja to death by her quiet appearance. It was evident when the three ninja screamed, causing the once sleeping Tsune, to wake up and cry.

"Tsune! It's Ok!" Hinata said quickly, rocking the 4 month old. Sasuke stood, and took his child into his arms.

"The meeting done?" Sasuke asked, tucking his child close to him.

"Yeah. I wanted to leave her with you while I ran back to the clan house. People have started asking if she is mine as a joke."

"Would that be bad?" Choji asked.

"N-no!" Hinata blurted.

"It's Ok, Hinata. Head home." Sasuke said. Hinata nodded.

"Right. See you at your house later." Hinata said, and ran off, but not before hearing Choji and Naruto make noises which made it seem like sex would be involved. Before she could blush and look back, she heard a thud, the two stop, and Naruto yell something about Sasuke being an ass. Hinata decided she could shrug it off then, and she ran off.

"I gotta get my child out of the bar. See you later, Naruto." Sasuke said, and walked out. Choji then stood, and got his wallet out.

"I'm going to pay for my food, and head home. Bye, Naruto." Choji said as he started to leave. For a moment, Naruto sat in peace, enjoying what was left of his drink. After it was gone, he got up to pay. He needed to get back and see how things were with Temari and Harumi.

XXX-the Hokage mansion-XXX

Naruto walked into the mansion briskly, and quickly found his wife-to-be and child. Rather than interrupt them, he stood in the door and watched as they went about in the kitchen.

"I gotta get something in you other than ramen." Temari said, standing by the stove. Harumi was busy coloring a picture while her mother cooked. Naruto could smell vegetables, which he hated with a passion, and some kind of beef with sweet smelling sauce.

"I don't like vegetables, mommy!" Harumi wined. Temari laughed lightly.

"You are so much like your father sometimes, it's like you're a little mirror image of him. You have to eat vegetables, or you won't grow up to be strong and healthy." Temari insisted as she finished making the food.

"Does daddy eat vegetables?" Harumi asked suddenly. Temari froze in place, hoping to avoid that question, but failing.

"Yes." Naruto said instantly, and stepped into the kitchen. Temari spun around in surprise, and Harumi quickly jumped up and hugged her father. Temari looked at him with a raised eyebrow, and he smiled.

"I'll have some vegetables with you. That sound good?" Naruto asked, sitting down next to Harumi.

"Ok, daddy." Harumi sighed, not wanting to eat anything healthy.

Temari got their food together, and sat it before them. Naruto and Harumi both gulped as they looked at the green vegetables before them, and they both dug in. while Harumi visibly displayed her dislike of them, Naruto fought harder than he had ever fought before to not show his dislike so his daughter would continue to eat them. At that moment, he really wished he could fight both pain and the Akatsuki all over again, at the same time.

"I'm surprised you are here. I thought you would be out planning for the war. Gaara sent a letter that he is planning on sending a piece of his intelligence team to work on a joint strategy. He also said that the mist village would be doing the same." Temari said, trying to help by giving him something to think about while he ate.

"I kind of am working right now. I sent shadow clones to the intelligence office to work on plans." Naruto said as he forced another bite. Harumi copied him to make sure she appeared as strong as her father was.

"Shadow clones? Good idea. You going to teach Harumi that jutsu when she gets older?" Temari wondered.

"If she wants to be a ninja, than yes."

"Of course I want to be a ninja, daddy! I want to be just like you!" Harumi smiled.

"She talked about wanting to be a ninja after she found out you are one. She doesn't understand she will be a Kunoichi, not a ninja, but its basically the same thing." Temari stated.

"No, mommy! I'm going to be a ninja. Not a Kunoichi!" Harumi complained.

"Honey, a Kunoichi is a female ninja. It's the same thing."

"Than call it a ninja, please."

Naruto and Temari both laughed at Harumi's statement, causing her to puff her cheeks with frustration. Naruto reached over, and rubbed her head. "ok. You can be a ninja. Are you going to take over as Hokage for me then?"

Harumi looked up to him and smiled brightly. "yup! I'm going to be a stronger Hokage than you, daddy!"

Naruto smiled at his daughter's statement, and hoped she would be a stronger Hokage than him. If she became the Hokage.

As they were sitting there, Neji walked in with a sad look on his face. All three looked up to him, and Naruto instantly stood. "the consul wishes to speak with you over the matter of Karin. it... is a clan issue."

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked cautiously.

"Not sure. That's all they would say to me." Neji answered. Naruto looked back to his family, and sighed. "they asked for you, not a shadow clone."

"Tough. I'm with my family." Naruto said, and created another shadow clone. The clone sighed, and walked out of the kitchen, and up stairs to get the Hokage robes. Naruto wished he could sense what the clones were doing at all times, but decided it was better to wait and see. After Neji left, he sat back down, and began to talk with his family.

XXX-at the consul meeting-XXX

Naruto's shadow clone walked into the meeting, and he saw his consul sitting at a table, waiting for him. They looked at him grimly, being the same old people who served many Hokage before him, and sat opposite them.

"So, what do you want from me?" Naruto asked quietly. The two looked at him with harsh, old eyes.

"We recently heard that the Uzumaki girl, Karin, was seeking a relationship with the Amakichi boy. We feel it is UN-wise to give that clan such a powerful additive, and wish to move her to the Uchiha house." the man said. Naruto frowned for a moment, than smiled.

"I know you two too well..." Naruto said as he stood up. He started to the door, and before they could protest his leaving, Naruto knocked on the door. As the two stood up, in walked Karin, Sasuke, and Choji.

"What are you doing? Having these people here makes the meeting void unless they leave!" the female consular said.

"Naruto told me what you guys want to do. That is just low." Sasuke said in a low, angry voice.

"I can be with whoever the hell I want to be with! You old farts can burn for all I care!" Karin said. Choji was just about to throw his two cents in, but Karin grabbed his face, and smashed her lips to his. After that, she grabbed his hand, and stormed from the room. While Naruto had hoped Choji would say something, he thought that Karin's action had said all he could have added.

"Sasuke, wait outside real quick. I have some final minute words for these two." Naruto said, and Sasuke smiled. After Sasuke walked out, and closed the door, Naruto turned back to the two. "I'm done with you two. You are fired. I thought you had gotten over your old ways, but it seems you still think you can control everything that happens in this damn village. You are fired!" Naruto yelled, and pointed to the door.

"You can't fire us! We have been here since the third was young!" the old man yelled in return.

"The hell I cant. I want you out, and what little offices you have cleaned out. I can find a new consul." Naruto said, and left the meeting. As he walked out, Sasuke was standing to the side of the door, smiling.

"Don't think you can recruit me."

"I cant. You are part of the clan consul."

"So why do they have a say over ninja if they are technically the civilian consul?"

"Emergency war powers... they got them basically the moment I announced the war..."

Sasuke's eyes widened, and he stumbled back. "I'm surprised you knew about... anything like that. Emergency powers, consul law... wow... you are changing."

Naruto smiled, and punched his best friend in the arm. "i learnt a lot after I thought a war was coming. I had clones read all night on the topics of our villages laws in war, all the way to possible strategies."

"Well, nice to see it has helped. Any ideas on who you will pick?" Sasuke asked as they started to leave, hearing the just fired consul groan in agony over their defeat.

"Actually, Hanabi would be a good pick, I think. And... I'm not sure. It should be a civilian though..."

"Than why Hanabi?"

"Because she could be in control of a special force for defending the civilians during possible invasions. We have secret places to hide them, but no real defense if people find those places."

"Good idea, and point."

Naruto and Sasuke started on their way to the Hyūga clan house, as Naruto was hell bent on explaining his thoughts to the young, yet smart, Hanabi.

"Wait... why are you heading with me?"

"When you told me to meet you at the meeting, I had to drop my kids off somewhere..."

Naruto resisted making jokes, and concentrated on what he would tell Hanabi. Though he had to worry about finding someone to take over the other part of the job, he knew he could trust Hanabi to do so if he asked her to. There was a lot on his mind, and he needed all the help he could get.

XXX-later, at the mansion-XXX

Naruto lazily got into bed, feeling his age creeping up on him, even though he was only 21. Temari had just gotten Harumi down to sleep, and crash landed into the bed. They both laid together for a while before either of them made a noise.

"So... was firing your civilian consul really necessary?" Temari asked.

"If you had ever met them, or attempted to work with them for extended periods of time, you would know the answer to that. Luckily, I have the replacements..." Naruto said, and cuddled up to Temari.

"Fair enough. The wedding plans are mostly completed. I'm actually really amazed we got so far, so soon."

"I know. And I am excited... it has been hell to really think about it without thinking about the war, but I finally got some time to do so..."

"And how did you do that?"

"I sent some clones to the intelligence team. They are still active, and I will probably keep them there until they..." Naruto spoke, then quickly stopped.

"Everything Ok?" Temari asked quickly, sitting up to get a good look at him.

"I... I have the plan..." Naruto whispered.

"Your clones disappeared?"

"Yeah. I have a strategy..."

XXX

**A/N: Ok... so I know this took forever... wow... it feels like I owe you all one hell of an apology. The next chapter will be up as soon as possible. I really need to get my other story updated, so expect the chapter in two weeks at the absolute soonest I think. Blame Gears Of War 3, Skyrim, and Mass Effect 3. Mostly me though...**

** ~lord-maiku!**


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